To Make You Love Me
by sakura seraphim
Summary: Unrequited love is so such sadder when it's two people in love with each other without knowing. But how far would you go for the chance to win that person's heart? Is it worth risking heartbreak? A Mori x Haruhi fic. Reviews much appreciated.
1. Chapter 1

**Ok, here's the deal. I tried to write a Kyouya x Haruhi fic, I really did, but it blatantly wasn't working for me so I gave up. So for now I'm sticking to what I know which means, that's right! _Another _Mori x Haruhi fic! **

**Anyways, I only have a vague idea of where I'm going with this so please forgive me if there are large gaps between updates. Just assume that I'm smacking my head off a wall somewhere trying to think my way out of the corner I've written myself into. Not only does this help me think, it also provides free amusement for random passers-by in the street.**

**Anyone else who has read the Ouran High manga series might also be familiar with the Love Egoist series. Basically it's a collection of short stories Bisco Hatori drew before she started Host Club and they're included at the back of some of the manga books. I really enjoyed the series, especially the twin girls Barako and Nadeshiko Kuronuma. (described in the book as being "the school's oddest twins, descended from witches perhaps, but definitely creepy…") I liked these characters so much that I decided to feature them in a fic.**

**(I do apologize for the rabble, I'm just trying to give you an idea of where I'm coming from. If I'm boring you please feel free to skip this and do something more productive with your time, like raising llamas for instance.)**

**Anyways, on with the fic. I hope you enjoy and as always, reviews and comments are much appreciated.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ouran High School Host Club or Love Egoist. But I do own Cuba…**

**Sakura Seraphim**

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

_All the things, I want to say just aren't coming out right._

_I'm tripping on words; you got my head spinning, _

_I don't know where to go from here._

_Cause it's you and me, and all of the people_

_With nothing to do, nothing to prove_

_And it's you and me and all of the people_

_And I don't know why_

_I can't keep my eyes off of you._

You And Me – Lifehouse

"Thank you princesses, for gracing us with your presence again today. I can only pray that we'll be as blessed with such angelic company again tomorrow."

Tamaki bowed courteously to the two girls who were lingering reluctantly in the doorway, clearly unwilling to leave. The younger of the two, a blonde with dainty, elfin features looked up at the smiling host, her beautiful eyes stained with anguish.

"I wish I could stay with master Tamaki now. Tomorrow seems so far away…" she gushed, hands clutched to her chest.

With a charming smile and a gentle hand on her back, the blonde host expertly steered the girl and her friend towards the door, his mesmeric blue eyes never leaving hers. Ushering her gently out the door, Tamaki caught the girl's hand in both of his and looked deep into her eyes. "Then perhaps I will appear in your dreams tonight princess." he whispered.

Leaving the girl wide-eyed and blushing furiously in the corridor, Tamaki stepped backwards into the music room, perfect smile never faltering until the door was closed behind him. Leaning against the polished wood, he listened to the girls' footsteps grow fainter and fainter until they had died away completely.

With a small sigh he walked across the room, which was now empty save for the hosts; a faint lace of perfume in the air and a few half finished cups of tea the only sign that the room had ten minutes previously been full of laughing, chattering girls.

Well, there was still one girl left. Fujioka Haruhi, her jacket discarded on the back of a chair, was now collecting plates and cups from the deserted tables, stopping occasionally to scold the twins for using the sugar tongs to have a sugar cube war across the couches.

"Kaoru, give me the sugar bowl." she demanded irritatedly.

"Ne ne, but Haruhi! We're going to ambush milord!" came the chorused reply from the red-headed pair crouching behind the couch with their stockpile of sugar. Kyouya, sitting with his laptop at a nearby table raised an eyebrow before shrugging and returning to his work.

Muttering darkly to herself Haruhi carried her tottering pile of tableware over to the cupboard, all too mindful of the expensive consequences of dropping even a single piece. She passed by another couch, stopping only to scoop up another couple of plates. A small child-like boy was happily and enthusiastically finishing a strawberry cream cake.

"Hunny-senpai, I need that plate when you're done with It." she said with a slight smile.

The boy looked up and grinned at her, the skin around his mouth flecked with small blobs of cream. "Hai, Haru-chan!"

Haruhi smiled and continued on, not looking at the couch's other occupant. Had she glanced his way however, she would have been met with the dark somber stare that, unknown to her, had been following her around the room for several minutes.

Mori watched her go, chin in his hand, elbow braced on the arm of the couch. His silent gaze drank in every detail of her. The way she twitched her head slightly to the side to flick her hair out of her eyes. The way the lights reflected in her eyes, making them sparkle and shine. The way a faint smile hung about her face, occasionally tugging at her lips to give her an expression of contented thoughtfulness.

He wondered what she was thinking about.

He regarded her silently from across the room, the way he always did. He sometimes felt envious of the others who seemed to find it so easy to talk to her. To laugh with her and spend time with her. Although he cherished every word exchanged with the Host Cub's personal princess, every smile she blessed him with, every careless hand on his arm or brush of her fingers against his, he wished he could be something more to her.

Still, he thought miserably as he watched her, what could he ever hope for really? Against the other club members; the charming king, the sophisticated vice-president, the devilish twins and the adorable lolita, what girl would chose him. He supposed he ought to be grateful that she even noticed him at all.

Mori was startled out of his internal monologue with a frown as he realized that Haruhi was standing on a stool on her tiptoes in an attempt to reach the higher shelves of the cupboard. Since he felt as protective towards Haruhi these days as he did towards Mitsukuni, he was out of his seat and halfway across the room before Hunny had even realized he'd moved.

Wobbling slightly on her makeshift ladder, Haruhi stretched in order to reach the top shelf. She let out a small cry as a teacup slid from her fingers and unthinkingly lurched forwards in a desperate attempt to catch it before it hit the floor. Out of nowhere she saw a large hand dart forward and snare the cup before it could shatter, while another hand grabbed her hip and steadied her before she could fall.

Face impassive, Mori reached up and placed the cup delicately on the top shelf before lifting her off of the stool and placing her gently but firmly on the floor. As he looked down at her, dark eyes full of concern, he realized that she was looking back at him, an unreadable expression on her face.

Suddenly feeling hot and embarrassed, caught in that thoughtful gaze like a rabbit caught in headlights, he quickly averted his eyes and turned his attention to the tableware still to be put away. "Be careful." he mumbled.

His heartbeat sped up slightly as, out of the corner of his eye, he saw her mouth open to respond.

"Haaaaaaru-chan!"

Mori's heart dipped slightly with disappointment as Hunny came hurtling across the room, proudly brandishing his empty plate. Haruhi broke her gaze with a small smile as she turned her attention to Hunny.

"I finished my cake Haru-chan! And look, I brought you my plate!" Hunny cried out happily as he handed her his plate. Haruhi took the plate from his outstretched hands, laughing as she did so at his child-like earnestness.

"Hunny-senpai, you've got cream all over your face!" she exclaimed, laughing as she stooped down with a cloth to wipe his face.

Mori watched his cousin beam happily at this attention and smiled wistfully himself. He in no way blamed his cousin for interrupting his moment with Haruhi but couldn't help but feel jealous of the way Haruhi was fussing around the small boy. He knew Mitsukuni did it on purpose of course; acting like a child was his way of attracting Haruhi's attention and getting close to her.

Leaning against the cupboards, he watched as Haruhi looked up in response to a shout from across the room. The twins had launched their sugar bombardment on Tamaki, who was attempting to hide behind a couch. Sighing wearily, Haruhi left her cloth on a table and walked across the room, Hunny running after her to watch the fun.

After scolding the twins, who were now standing with their hands behind their backs, attempting to look innocent, Haruhi pulled Tamaki to his feet. Mori watched as, trying not to smile, she brushed sugar out of his blonde hair and off of his shoulders, where it had settled like snow. He also noted Tamaki's adoring gaze and contented smile as he delighted in this small act of kindness. Although he seemed unable to realize his feelings for Haruhi, Tamaki seemed happy to bask in the few displays of affection she showed for him.

With a casual glance at his watch and a small sigh, Kyouya announced that it was time for them to vacate the room. He closed his laptop with a soft click and strode towards the door, whipping out his cell phone with fluid efficiency to call his chauffeur.

Mori watched as the twins appeared on either side of Haruhi, each laughing and linking an arm with one of Haruhi's as they propelled her away from Tamaki and towards the door. Tamaki blinked in confusion at the Haruhi-less space in front of him before turning and shouting after the twins.

"Hey you two! What are you doing with my daughter!?"

"Didn't we tell you milord?" came the cheerful tandem response, "We're taking Haruhi home to live with us!" Smirking back over their shoulders, they each snaked an arm around Haruhi's waist and pulled her closer to them. They walked through the doorway with Haruhi trapped between them, smiling in a bemused way. Hikaru and Kaoru were both fond of Haruhi, and wanted desperately to be close to her but due to their immaturity, they often came off as possessive and jealous.

Mori smiled to himself as he watched Tamaki glare at the doorway where the twins had been, mouth opening and closing in silent fury, before he ran shouting after the trio.

"Coming Takashi?" said a cheerful voice by his elbow.

Mori looked, startled, down into his cousin's large eyes before smiling slightly.

"Hai."

Hunny smiled at him before running out the door, after the others. Mori followed, closing the door softly behind him as he watched his cousin catch up to the rest of his friends, clutching usa-chan and laughing as Tamaki attempted to wrestle Haruhi out of the twins' grasp. Finally free and leaving the twins and Tamaki to bicker behind her, Haruhi walked ahead up the corridor, pointedly ignoring the sounds of the argument.

Mori saw Kyouya approach her and lay a hand on her arm, casually asking her if she needed a ride home. Haruhi shook her head with a bright laugh that made Mori's stomach flip, her hair falling into her eyes. She declined Kyouya's offer with a smile, saying that she preferred to walk home before turning away and continuing up the corridor.

Kyouya watched after her silently for a moment, dark eyes thoughtful and unfathomable and a strange smile on his face. As the other hosts passed him, the tall boy shook his head with a dry laugh before following.

Mori frowned slightly, still standing with his back to the music room door. He had never been sure of the shadow king's feelings for Haruhi, but suspected that he was intrigued and confused not only by her personality but also by the soft spot he seemed to have developed for her.

Up ahead, Haruhi had lagged behind the others, stopped beside one of the huge ornate windows that stretched from floor to ceiling. Although it was still fairly early in the evening, winter moonlight sliced through the glass, highlighting a patch of floor in shining silver. The light fell on Haruhi's upturned face, making her skin seem to glow and turning her eyes into shining coins. Mori watched her, so entranced by the simplicity of her beauty as she smiled in the moonlight that he didn't notice the strangers behind him until the first one spoke.

"Beautiful, isn't she?"

Mori whirled around, hands curling into fists without him realizing as his eyes darted left and right through the shadows. He relaxed slightly as the owner of the voice revealed herself as a girl, stepping silently out of the shadows.

She was beautiful, in a pale, ghostly kind of way, with milky, translucent skin and dark, shining eyes. Her hair fell in ringlets from two bunches, so blonde that it looked like molten silver in the moonlight. She was looking, not at him, but down the corridor towards Haruhi and smiling in a dreamy sort of way. She sighed heavily, casting her beautiful eyes down to the marble floor.

"Unrequited love is so very sad." she said sadly, "Isn't that right Barako?"

"Yes, Nadeshiko. There's nothing so heart wrenching as a young man who cannot confess his feelings to the fair maiden." came a second voice from the shadows.

Mori started with surprise as a second girl stepped from the shadows and stood beside the first. He looked from the one to the other, mouth open but unable to speak a word. They were twins, completely identical milky skin, dark eyes and cat-like smiles. The only difference was that the second girl's hair was dark as the shadows, cascading in ringlets around her face.

Both wore girl's uniforms of the school but he did not recognize them. He felt sure he would have remembered a pair such as this. They regarded him silently, mirroring each other's smiles and tilted head as they stared at him.

Remembering himself suddenly, Mori straightened up and closed his mouth, resuming his usual impassive, expressionless face.

"What do you want?" he intoned quietly, eyes moving from one to the other.

"We know how you feel about Miss Fujioka Haruhi." Barako said sweetly, moving to his left side.

Nadeshiko approached his right side. "We know how you watch her."

"Think about her.

"Long for her."

"Love her."

Mori looked from one to the other in bewilderment, questions ricocheting around his head with repeating intensity,

Who were they? How did they know Haruhi was a girl? How did they know how he felt? How did they know, how did they know, how did they know…?

The blonde twin stifled a giggle with her hands and her eyes flickered with flames of amusement at his obvious confusion. "Oh don't worry, we won't tell anyone what she really is."

"And we won't tell her how you feel." said she other twin graciously, sounding equally amused. "But you know," she continued softly, "Sooner or later, one of them will take her."

She looked pointedly up the corridor towards the hosts, laughing and talking in the moonlight, seemingly worlds away from this shadowy corner with its increasingly creepy company. Mori watched them talk with Haruhi, laugh with her. Their casual touches and the deeper intent behind them and felt, not jealousy, but a deep, heart wrenching feeling of desperate hopelessness. She looked so happy with them. She hadn't even realized that he hadn't followed with the rest.

Lost in his despair, he jumped when he heard a voice whisper in his ear. "You know, we could change that."

An identical voice breathed in his other ear. "We could make her notice you. Give you a chance to win her for your own."

"To see her smile at you."

"To have her want to see you."

"To watch her fall in love with you."

Mori barely heard his own sharp intake of breath. He was lost, as he had been for weeks, months, in looking at Haruhi, unable to take his eyes off her. His eyes traced every delicate contour of her face, her laughing smile, her flawless skin with its faint pink blush, her beautiful, shining eyes. It occurred to him then what he realized he'd known all along: he'd do anything for her. Anything.

He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply.

"What must I do?"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Haruhi opened the door that led to one of the school's many courtyards and stepped outside. She glanced up at the blank white sky and had to raise her hand to shield her eyes from the bright December sunshine. The courtyard was quiet compared to the between-classes bustle of the corridor behind her, only a few students hurrying between the bare trees and snow-covered flowerbeds, eager to get out of the cold. Haruhi herself shivered and pulled her jacket closer to her in an attempt to block a gust of wind that felt like freezing blades against her exposed skin.

She started across the yard to her next class. Technically the fastest route to her next class would be down the south hallway but this way she would avoid meeting the twins on their way out of their elective class. Haruhi turned as a chorus of laughing chattering voices, distorted by the wind, came from a door opening in one of the corridors bordering the courtyard. There was another advantage to her route across the east courtyard…

A group of third year girls had emerged, giggling and clutching at their skirts and hair to spare them from the wind's grasping fingers. Among them was what looked like a little boy dressing up in a high school uniform, his golden hair a head lower than any of the girls'. He was laughing along with the young ladies as the wind swept his hair away from his childlike face.

Haruhi's heartbeat quickened as she watched the group. Bringing up the rear like a silent shadow, but still with an escort of a few giggling girls was a tall, somber boy. The wind pulled his dark hair away from his brow and tugged insistently at the folds of his shirt as he walked along the path, occasionally nodding or smiling slightly at something one of the girls said. Haruhi ducked behind a tree as they walked past her, if she was spotted she would be accosted by a delighted Hunny and his many fangirls, when all she wanted was to watch.

Watch him.

Her eyes studied his face; the line of his strong jaw, the curve of his faint smile, his gentle, studious eyes… She smiled wistfully to herself as she watched him, her eyes never leaving him until he had disappeared into the door leading to another corridor. She loved to watch him, although she rarely got the chance to.

She would try to sneak glances at him during club activities, with a pretense of needing to fetch something from the cupboard or clearing the tables, but often when she did he would already be looking up at her. Looking at her with those dark, unfathomable eyes that seemed to look right through her, to sweep over her soul and read her every thought. She would have to look quickly away and hurry off before she blushed or stuttered or did something equally stupid to give herself away. She knew she could never be anything to him. Compared to his customers at the host club, the beautiful, elegant young ladies with their flowing, expertly styled hair and perfect doll faces, what chance could she have? She was just a commoner. Unsophisticated, inelegant and so unfeminine that no one seemed to question that the fact that she was a boy

She moved from behind her tree and continued walking along the path. Still, she thought, scuffing a pile of snow with her shoe, she envied those girls, his customers. They were able to spend time with him. To receive his smiles and kind, gentle words, rare though they were. To be able to spend time with him, while he attended to them and looked after their every need. To be able to look openly at him while Haruhi had to be content with what fleeting glimpses she could catch of him from beneath her lashes or between classes.

But there had been that moment yesterday, when she had almost fallen. She had stopped at Mori and Hunny's table, picking up plates and hoping to sneak a glance at Mori. She hadn't dared though; she could feel his somber gaze on her. She had been so lost in thinking about him as she put away the crockery that a cup had slipped from her hand. She was so preoccupied by frantic thoughts of what that broken cup would add to her debt that she had lunged unthinkingly forwards and almost fallen. When had she felt Mori's hand grip her waist firmly, she thought her heart would fail.

Try as she might, she couldn't take her eyes from him as he set her gently on the floor, all thoughts of discretion lost the pounding of her heart and the ringing of her ears.

She must have made him feel awkward though; he had looked away quickly, looking uncomfortable as he made to put away the rest of the cups. Trying not to blush and internally scolding herself for being so obvious, she had opened her mouth to stammer an apology before Hunny had thankfully rescued her.

Despite the coldness of the winter air, Haruhi felt her face grow hot just thinking about it. The feel of his hand on her waist, the softness of his voice, the look of concern in his eyes…

"You'll never win him by standing about daydreaming you know."

Haruhi jumped and span around, looking wildly around for the owner of the voice. Her eyes met those of a girl, standing inside one of the corridors, framed in an open window. The girl was pretty, with jet-black hair falling around her shoulders as she leaned on the windowsill, chin in her hand. She had wide dark eyes that were regarding Haruhi with an amused thoughtfulness. The effect the girl had, although impressive in itself, was enhanced by the other girl standing at the window, her posture identical but reversed to that of her sister's. The only difference was that the second girl's hair, fluttering round her face in the breeze, with a silvery blonde.

Once she had recovered from the sudden appearance of the girls, Haruhi's brain threw up a memory.

"You two. You're the new girls in class 1B right? You're…"

The blonde twin gave her a slow, catlike smile. "…Nekozawa-senpai's cousins, yes. But what does that have to do with you and Morinozuka-senpai?"

Haruhi's breath caught in her throat. How did they know? Had they seen her looking at him…?

The dark-haired twin gave a short laugh and clapped her hands in delight at Haruhi's thunderstruck expression. "Don't worry fair maiden, we won't tell your prince charming how you feel. Although you should."

Haruhi opened her mouth to deny these accusations. She didn't know what they were talking about. She was obviously a boy. Takashi Morinozuka was just a friend and club member. But one look at their knowing, thoughtful stares made her sigh and hang her head in defeat.

"How did you know?" she said weakly.

The girls leant forward again and sighed in unison.

"The love-struck girl watches the young man from afar."

"She loves him."

"But can't tell him how she feels."

"So tragic."  
"So sad."

They turned and fixed her with identical sympathetic, almost pitying gazes before leaning out the window so that they were closer to her. Haruhi stepped back without thinking, becoming increasingly unnerved by these strange twins.

"You know," whispered the blonde twin. "We can make it so he doesn't even look at those other girls."

"That's right." chimed the other twin. "He'll only have eyes for you."

"He'll smile at you."

"He'll take care of you."

"He'll love you."

Haruhi looked from one twin to another, dumbstruck. All sensible voices and doubts in her mind had been drowned out at the word 'love'. Her mind reeled with a thousand images of her and Mori, a thousand scenarios and fantasies that had chased through her mind for months. Shaking slightly in a way that had nothing to do with the cold, she looking up at the smiling twins.

"Tell me what to do."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

**Oh dear God longest chapter ever…… I know, I know, but one of my biggest flaws is to go on and on and on and on with descriptive text. I also feel obliged to include little bits with the other club members too…**

**Anyways I hope you enjoy and I'll update ASAP, I promise **

**Please comment, I'll love you forever. 3**

**Sakura Seraphim**


	2. Chapter 2

**For once I don't have much to say…**

**So on with the fic! **

**Sakura Seraphim**

**Disclaimer: Ouran High School Host Club, Love Egoist and all associated stuffs belong to the one and only Bisco Hatori. **

**- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - **

_What a wicked game to play,_

_to make me feel this way_

_What a wicked thing to do, _

_to make me dream of you._

_No, I wanna fall in love,_

_with you._

Wicked Game – H.I.M.

_"If you truly want to gain Miss Fujioka's heart, meet us in the north building, at the end of the third floor hallway, in the fifth chemistry room…"_

Mori stepped reluctantly over the threshold of the room, squinting warily into the deep shadows that clung to the corners and draped the furniture, turning it into an assortment of indistinguishable shapes in the gloom. The door swung shut behind him, and he snapped his head around just in time to see the last sliver of daylight engulfed by the shadows and hear the soft click swallowed by the velvet silence.

_Maybe I have the wrong room? _he thought, peering into the shadows. Indeed, as his eyes gradually adjusted to the dim light, he realized that this room bore just about as much resemblance to a chemistry room as the Host Club's lounge did to a music room.

Dark, heavy velvet curtains hung over every window, blocking the winter sunlight and muffling the lunchtime sounds of the other students until they seemed to be worlds away. The only light was provided by old-fashioned looking lanterns mounted on the walls; a flickering, eerie candlelight that made the shadows dance and lurch, throwing the surroundings into alternating stark relief and deep shadow. The surroundings were unnervingly familiar to those of the Host Club, although slightly warped. The velvet couches were there, as were the polished tables and the bouquets of roses on every surface. However these roses looked sinister rather than lovely, with their petals the colour of blood, as though to prick your finger on a thorn would be to poison yourself.

Mori gazed mistrustfully at the roses and approached one of the tables. The twins were sitting demurely on one of the couches, a large book open between them. Mori briefly examined the upside down page, written in strange characters that he had never seen before, before the book was closed with a soft thud and the twins looked up at him.

Barako smiled graciously at him. "Welcome Morinozuka-senpai. Please take a seat."

Uneasily, Mori lowered himself onto the opposite couch, his dark eyes following Nadeshiko as she carried the book to a table in the corner. Craning his neck to see, he saw that the table was scattered with other heavy looking tomes, as well as miscellaneous strange items such as scattered flower petals, a silver knife and assorted sizes of glass bottles containing multi-coloured powders and liquids.

When he looked back to the couch, Nadeshiko had joined her sister and both were sitting in identical positions; ankles together, hands clasped sedately in their laps, eyes regarding him studiously. Today they had each woven their monochrome hair into a thick pleat that hung over one shoulder like a sleeping snake.

Mori shifted uncomfortably under their penetrating stare, wondering why exactly he had come here. Did he really think that these strange girls could make Haruhi love him? Could he trust them…?

"You don't trust us Morinozuka-senpai." the girls said in unison, eyes never leaving him.

Mori looked sharply up at them, meeting their gaze calmly despite the nagging feeling that they had just read his mind. "No." he said simply.

"And still you came?" the girls tilted their heads inwards inquisitively, each mirroring the other's position exactly.

Mori said nothing.

"Ah but such is love." said Barako with a sigh and a small smile. "You watch her everyday, wishing, wanting, needing to be with her, and yet knowing that you never will."

"And yet," Nadeshiko chimed in. "There is always that hope. That small, frail and yet inextinguishable spark of hope that maybe someday, somehow…"

The twins chorused together. "…she could love someone like you."

Mori found he could not look at them, couldn't meet their eyes for fear that that was how they were reading his mind. That they were looking down through his eyes into his soul and calmly extracting all the thoughts he barely even dared admit to himself.

There was a silence from the opposite couch before Nadeshiko said, softly, "Do you want to be with her?"

Mori stared unseeing at his feet. "Always."

Barako spoke in the same sweet voice as her sister. "What would you do for her?"

Mori's hands clenched into fists on his knees. "Anything."

"Do you love her?"

Mori was silent for a moment, head bowed and eyes closed. Eventually his shoulders slumped with a sigh and his hands unclenched. "Yes."

The twins smiled identical cat-like smiles. "Then we will help."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"_Meet us in the north building, at the end of the third floor hallway, in the fifth chemistry room, if you truly want Morinozuka-senpai to notice you."_

Haruhi frowned and held the small glass bottle up to the light, watching as the dim light in the chemistry room made the sides glint and the pale pink liquid inside glow mysteriously.

"And you're sure this will work?" she said uncertainly.

"Of course." said Nadeshiko smoothly as she appeared at Haruhi's right elbow. "You must trust us Miss Fujioka."

Barako appeared at her left elbow. "This love potion never fails. A few drops and Morinozuka-senpai will have eyes only for you."

Haruhi looked from one twin to another, and then at the small bottle that lay glinting in her palm. This was ridiculous. What was she even doing here? She didn't believe in this fairy-tale magic stuff…

Barako tilted her head to the side with a slight frown, her dark eyes clouding. "You don't believe us Miss Haruhi?"

Haruhi started suddenly and turned to stare at the dark-haired girl's face. It was impassive, giving no indication that she might have just read Haruhi's thoughts. She looked back to the bottle she was holding.

"Of course not…" she whispered, but even as the words left her lips, she saw herself slipping a few drops into Mori's tea.

Nadeshiko smiled behind Haruhi's back at her sister. "You don't think it will work?"

Haruhi shook her head, eyes trained on the bottle, seemingly mesmerized by it. "It can't work…"

Barako smiled. "Very well then." Moving with a swiftness that wouldn't be expected from her delicate appearance, one of her pale hands shot out and in one movement knocked the bottle from Haruhi's hand and sent it flying away through the air.

Haruhi let out a cry and before she had even realized what she was doing, she had leapt away from the twins and after the bottle, desperate to catch it before it could hit the ground and shatter. She fell to the ground with a thud and skidded a little along the carpet, the tiny bottle cradled safely in her hands. She straightened up until she was kneeling on the carpet, staring in wonder at the bottle.

It was ridiculous. She knew it was ridiculous. This was fairy-tale stuff, it couldn't possibly be real. But when the bottle had flown out of her hands, she had felt in an instant as if any hope, any whispered wish or secret dream about her and Mori had flown away with it, to shatter into irreparable pieces on the floor. She clutched the bottle to her chest, being careful not to crush it.

The twins had walked around her and were now crouched on the carpet in front of her, hands on their knees, watching her with knowing smiles.

"Despite what your common sense tells you, despite the voices of reason and logic, there's part of you that can't stand to let go of the chance, however small, of being granted your heart's desire." said Barako, her dark eyes resting on Haruhi with an infuriating look of smugness and amusement.

Nadeshiko tapped her twin lightly on the shoulder, clucking her tongue in disapproval. "Now sister, don't mock the poor girl. It's a noble thing to throw away ones doubts and narrow-minded beliefs for the sake of love."

She turned back to Haruhi, head tilted inquisitively to the side. "Well Miss Fujioka? Are you willing to trust us?"

"Yes." Haruhi whispered, clutching the bottle tighter to her chest.

Barako mimicked her sister's questioning posture. "Are you willing to risk everything for the chance to win his love?"

"Yes."

"Even if it means that you are left with nothing. That things will return to the way they are now and you are left with nothing but a handful of memories and thoughts of what could have been?"

Haruhi bit her lip and cast her eyes to the side. What she was doing was so strongly in conflict with her character, with the ideals and beliefs that she had held so tightly to all her life that the whole situation seemed surreal. Her mind seemed detached, thoughts floating in and out of consciousness, whirling and merging with each other in a confusing patchwork. Every time her common sense managed to rally together a hasty barricade of logic and reasonable thinking, a visual memory of dark gray eyes shattered it instantly. Every sensible train of thought was derailed by the feel of strong hands lifting her, of a soft, deep voice telling her to be careful, of dark, concern filled eyes pulling her in so she felt like she was drowning…

Resolutely she looked back up at the twins, her face set stubbornly.

"Yes."

The twins smiled at her with triumphant satisfaction, as one might smile at a puppy that had just done an amusing trick. They rose gracefully to their feet and each stretched out a hand to help Haruhi up.

Haruhi paused in the act of dusting off her jacket and looked curiously at the twins, at these strange, all-knowing girls who seemed so eager to help her.

"If you don't mind my asking," she began warily. "Why are you doing this? Why would you want to help me."

For a moment the twins stared at her with look of identical surprise, dark eyes widening and perfect china-doll lips parting slightly. Then they glanced at each other and smiled, as if at some unheard joke that existed only between them.

Nadeshiko sighed and placed one perfect lily-white hand to her cheek. "When a fair maiden, poor but pure of heart, longs for her prince charming…"

"…watches him from afar by day and dreams of him at night…" Barako continued, hands clasped to her chest.

"…but cannot, dare not speak to him for fear of rejection…"

"…what can we, with the power to help, do…"

"…but do our best to grant her heart's desire?"

Haruhi sighed and rolled her eyes to the ceiling. _In other words, _she thought bitterly. _They have a fairytale romance fetish and seem to think that they're my fairy godmothers. What next? I have to use the potion by midnight or it'll turn into a pumpkin…?_

As if hearing her sarcastic thought, Barako straightened up and pointed dramatically at Haruhi. "But be warned Miss Haruhi, there is a time limit!"

"That's right." added Nadeshiko. "Love is a gamble after all. The potion lasts for a week, exactly a week. That's seven days."

"For that week Morinozuka-senpai will believe he is in love with you and will act accordingly."

"If by the end of the week he has truly fallen in love with you, he will remain so once the potion wears off."

"If not, things will return to the way they were. And Morinozuka-senpai will have no recollection of his feelings for you over the last week..

The twins crossed their arms and chorused in unison. "Do you understand.?"

Mouth dry, heart pounding in her head, Haruhi looked up to meet their eyes.

"Yes."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"But Haruhiiiiiii! Why not?"

Pouting pitifully Tamaki thrust a crumpled flyer into Haruhi's face. Leaning backwards, Haruhi could just make out the words 'Father Daughter Picnic! All Welcome!' emblazoned in scarlet letters above a picture of a painfully cheerful man laughing and sharing ice cream with a manically grinning daughter at a picnic table.

The flyer was pulled from her face and its view replaced by the face of a clearly distraught Tamaki, eyes nearly spilling over with tears.

"It's a traditional commoner's festival to celebrate the special relationship between a loving father and his precious daughter! There will be games! And ice cream!! And lots of family fun!!!"

Haruhi stared blankly at Tamaki who had grabbed her shoulders and was shaking her back and forward in an attempt to impress upon her the phenomenal importance of this event.

"I said no."

"But look at the picture Haruhi! Look at the commoner father and daughter laughing and deepening their bond over ice cream! Doesn't it look like fun?!"

Haruhi wriggled out of his desperate grasp and turned her back on him. "Not really."

The twins, always swift to spot a chance to antagonize Tamaki, took advantage of Haruhi's freedom to trap her between them in an embrace. Haruhi sighed wearily and began trying to negotiate her way out through the tangle of limbs that held her tightly. Over her head Hikaru and Kaoru shot Tamaki identical mocking grins. "Milord, Haruhi just doesn't want to be separated from her beloved brothers." Hikaru drawled. "She'd rather have 'family fun' with us, right Haruhi?"

"Not really," Haruhi muttered as she attempted to maneuver through a promising gap between Hikaru's hip and Kaoru's elbow.

Ignoring her completely, Kaoru continued with a teasing smile. "Haruhi's coming home to play with us."

Tamaki looked wordlessly from one grinning twin to the other, mouth opening and shutting soundlessly before he eventually scuttled over to a nearby table where Kyouya was sorting through a pile of paper. Tugging frantically at Kyouya's sleeve, Tamaki gestured wildly in the general direction of his beloved, captive daughter.

"Mom! Talk to your children!"

Pulling his arm irritatedly out of Tamaki's clutching fingers Kyouya returned to his files, one hand tapping industriously on a calculator. "I don't have any children, now go away."

"But Hikaru and Kaoru are harassing their little sister! They're corrupting and misleading her! They're..."

"Tamaki…" Kyouya turned, his face calm but eyes blazing furiously. Tamaki recoiled instantly, his kicked-puppy face instantly melting into a look of terror. "I'll only ask one last time, leave me alone!"

Kyouya turned back to his calculations, cool and composed as ever while Tamaki crouched dejectedly in a corner with his head in his arms, sobbing and occasionally muttering phrases such as 'mean mom' and 'family fun'.

Hikaru and Kaoru, satisfied in having chased Tamaki to his mushroom corner released the by now furiously struggling Haruhi and retired to one of the couches to play one of their portable video games.

Muttering darkly, Haruhi straightened her jacket, stalked across the room and pointedly took the couch furthest away from the other hosts, pausing only to snatch up her bag from a table. She pulled out a textbook and began reading.

Mori watched these events from his usual position on the sidelines, silently and without interference other than that which was required for Haruhi's safety. Although Haruhi may have disagreed, he didn't consider a close encounter with the twins as danger, and so he remained at his post by Hunny's side.

Although he had watched the entire argument, the words and actions of the other hosts had washed over him unheeded. He was thoroughly absorbed in watching Haruhi. Everything, from the firm set of her lips in a frown as she argued with Tamaki to the gentle arch of her subtly feminine figure as she attempted to escape from the twins. Even now he watched her as she read her textbook, her soft hair falling into her eyes, which were deep and dark and filled with a quiet contemplation.

"Takashi?"

"Mmm?" Her eyes really were beautiful. Like shining limpid pools that always seemed to be fixed on some far away point; deep into memory, or far into the future, or straight into your eyes when she spoke to you, as if she could see your soul…

"Takashi?"

"Mmm?" He loved her hair too. Her boyish cut was beginning to grow out a little; not enough to give her away as a girl, but enough to curl around the contours of her face and flick out around the nape of her neck, creating a delicate feminine look if you knew how to look at it. He wished he could touch it, twist his fingers through those soft strands and feel it slide like silk on his skin..

"Takashi, look at me."

Mori rose from his admiring stupor with a start and looked with bewilderment at his cousin, sitting across from him. "Mitsukuni…"

Hunny, who when last Mori looked had been sitting, contentedly eating his way through a stack of cakes, now had a beard of cream smeared across his mouth and chin. He'd clearly been amassing this collection while Mori had been distracted by watching Haruhi just to see when or if he'd notice. Hunny was watching Mori with obvious amusement from behind his cloud of cream. There was also a small strawberry perched humorously on his nose.

Mori blinked in amazement at his cousin before blushing slightly and averting his eyes. He scooped a tea towel up from where it lay discarded on the table and moved closer to his cousin to clean his face. "Gomen nasai Mitsukuni, I was…"

"You were world's away watching Haru-chan, weren't you?" said Hunny with a grin as Mori wiped the last blot of cream from under his nose.

Mori looked startled for a minute at Hunny, at the small child like boy who knew him so well, and who was watching him with a gaze that was far from childlike. He cast his eyes aside and his blush deepened. "I.."

Hunny laughed delightedly and grinned at Mori, his eyes dancing with teasing affection. "You think too little of yourself Takashi. Go and sit with her a while."

Mori's eyes flew back to his cousin, startled. 'But, I…"

"That's an order Takashi!" said Hunny, giggling. "I'm busy anyway. These cakes won't eat themselves!"

Hunny happily immersed himself amongst his cakes again as Mori stood up with a small smile. He walked over to a counter top nearby where a tea tray was still set up from that afternoon's host club. Despite his misgivings, Hunny's insistence that he should sit with Haruhi had given him an idea.

Gently setting a tea pot and two cups on a tray along with sugar and spoons, he glanced tentatively over his shoulder t make sure he wasn't being observed. All the other host club members appeared to be occupied; Tamaki was cultivating mushrooms in the corner, Kyouya was muttering over this months costume budget, the twins were immersed in their game, Hunny was happily munching his way through a chocolate layer cake and Haruhi was still engrossed in her book. His eyes lingered on Haruhi for a moment before he turned back to the tray.

Reaching inside his jacket, he pulled out a small glass vial containing a small amount of pale pink liquid, which glistened invitingly against the sides. Staring expressionless at the small bottle, he cast his mind back…

"_You're sure this won't hurt her?"_

"_Of course not Morinozuka-senpai. We have no wish to harm Miss Fujioka."_

"_But remember, you will have only a week to make her truly fall in love with you, exactly one week. Do you understand?"_

"…_Yes."_

…to his conversation in the chemistry room. He'd meant what he'd said. He'd do anything.

As if to convince him of this, he stole another glance back over his shoulder at Haruhi. One look at her sitting, smiling slightly in her contented thoughtful way as her eyes shone as they flickered across the page convinced him all over again. Resolutely, he unstoppered the bottle and let a few drops fall into the cup farthest from him. He picked up the tray and turned to face Haruhi's table.

As he started across the carpet towards her, he caught Hunny's eye and the small boy gave him a grin and an encouraging nod in Haruhi's direction. Taking a deep, steadying breath as he approached Haruhi's table, Mori stepped between the couch and the table and sat opposite Haruhi.

She looked up, startled as he sat down and stared at him in bewilderment for a moment before she smiled. The smile was so warm and sweet that Mori couldn't help giving her a small smile in return.

"For…me, Mori-senpai?" she asked tentatively, gesturing to the cups.

"Of course." he replied. He reached over to hand her the cup, being sure to hand her the one with the potion in it. She smiled shyly at him over the rim as she raised it to her lips.

Mori was just about to reach for his own cup when he heard a faint clink as Haruhi set down her own cup on the tray. He glanced, surprised at her, overcome with dread as he half expected her to be glaring at him furiously and accuse him of trying to poison her. Instead she was still smiling and rising to her feet. In response to his questioning gaze, she gestured towards the counter.

"You forgot milk." she said simply before walking away. Mori blinked at her retreating back as she reached for a milk jug. It's true that he took milk in his tea but he didn't expect Haruhi to know that. He cast his eyes to the side and allowed himself a small smile as he basked in the simple happiness he felt because Haruhi had remembered even a small thing about him.

When Haruhi set the jug on the table and sat down again, he thanked her briefly and added milk to his own tea. He held his breath as he watched her raise the cup to her lips, but this time she took a deep drink of the hot sweet liquid and smiled, delicate china cup clutched between her fingers.

Heart racing, he took a drink of his own tea. They sat in silence while they each finished their tea, neither looking directly at the other, but catching each other's faint smiles when they risked a glance.

When both had finished and set their cups down again on the table, Mori took a deep breath. "Haruhi…?"

Haruhi looked up at him, watching him intently. For some reason she looked almost as apprehensive as he felt. "Y-Yes Mori-senpai?"

Mori cast his eyes to the side, cursing himself as he felt his cheeks grow warm with a slight blush. His hands clenched and unclenched restlessly on his knees as he struggled to find the right words. He hadn't thought this far ahead. He took another deep breath, he should just get it over with, come right out and say it.

He looked up and managed to meet Haruhi's eyes. Before he looked to far into those eyes and lost his nerves, he said, "Would, would you like to go with me somewhere this weekend? Just us?"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Haruhi sat, pretending to read her textbook. Occasionally she would turn a page for the look of the thing. However, her mind wasn't on the proper conjugation of various irregular verbs; it was focused on a tall, dark-haired boy sitting a few feet away.

She could feel the gentle weight of the small potion bottle nestled in her trouser pocket, she had thought about little else all day. She had hung hopefully around Mori and Hunny's table all day, always bringing more cakes or clearing plates, waiting for an opportunity to slip some into his cup. She sighed, besides even if she'd managed to slip him the potion…

_Now remember Miss Haruhi, you must be the first girl he looks at after he drinks it. Otherwise he will be infatuated with someone else."_

…he was constantly surrounded by a group of giggling, flirting girls. There was no way he'd look at her first…

She jumped with surprise at a dull thud and a rattle of crockery as a tea tray was set on the table. Her eyes flew upwards, half expecting to see Tamaki, come to have a second try at persuading her to spend her weekend having family fun at his stupid 'commoner' picnic.

When her eyes were captured in a dark, intense gaze she thought her heart would stop. She stared in amazement as Mori sat down opposite her, and it was all she could do not to let her mouth drop open. She remembered herself in time as he looked up and managed what she hoped was a warm and welcoming smile. He smiled back. Her heart leapt.

Uncertainly, she gestured towards the tea. "For…me, Mori-senpai?"

He nodded. "Of course."

He reached over and handed he a cup. For the briefest moment, his fingers brushed hers and she felt her heart jump as though his touch had sent an electric shock up her arm. Giddy and smiling, she managed to raise her cup to her lips.

She was vaguely aware that whatever common sense she had left in the warm pink fog that was her mind was desperately trying to bring something to her attention. The idea hit her like a slap to the face as she frantically scanned the tray that Mori had brought.

She set her cup down quickly. Mori must have been startled by her hasty behavior as he looked up at her in surprise. She smiled sheepishly and gestured vaguely to the other side of the room. "You forgot milk." she stammered before whirling around and walking away so that he didn't see her blush.

When she reached the counter she reached for a milk jug and pulled it over until it was in front of her, shielded from view by her body. It was too good an opportunity to miss. She watched Mori enough during to club hours to know that he always took milk in his tea.

She looked cautiously round over her shoulder to make sure that Mori wasn't watching her. He was looking off to the side with his chin in his hand, smiling to himself about something. She found her gaze lingering on that smile; so rare, which made it all the more beautiful.

Hastily she turned back to the milk jug and pulled the small glass bottle out of her pocket. Her hand hesitated over the rim…

"Just a few drops will do Miss Fujioka, no more."

"_Alright."_

"_This potion will begin to take effect as soon as it has been drunk"_

"_I understand."_

..but only for a second, she allowed a small amount of the potion to fall into the milk, reasoning that the dosage Mori would receive would be equivalent to a few drops. The pale pink colour was instantly swallowed by creamy white.

Heart pounding, she returned to the table. She set the jug on the table and resumed her place opposite Mori, lifting her cup again as she watched him add milk to his tea and stir it.

Smiling, she took a drink of her own tea. It was hot and sweet and warmed her throat and stomach pleasantly. When she dared raise her eyes, she saw that Mori was also drinking his tea. He looked up and caught her eyes briefly before she cast her gaze down into her tea and continued to drink.

After they had both finished their tea and set their cups on the table, she sat looking at her knees, not quite daring to look at him. Not as much for fear of what she might see in those dark eyes, as fear of what she would not. Her thoughts were interrupted by the slow, calm lull of Mori's voice.

"Haruhi…?"

She looked up at him, eyes wide in surprise. Mori was looking at her shyly, hands fidgeting restlessly on his knees. She watched him carefully as she managed to stammer, "Y-Yes, Mori-senpai?"

She watched in amazement as Mori's shoulders heaved with a deep breath and he met her eyes, cheeks blushing. "Would, would you like to go with me somewhere this weekend? Just us?"

Haruhi couldn't help staring at him in sheer, uncomprehending wonder. Although Mori's hurriedly spoken words had struck right through her head, all that she could think in the conscious portion of her mind was: _it worked it worked oh my God it really worked._

When she finally began to reclaim control of her senses, she realized that she had been staring at Mori, who was looking at her with a kind of tortured anticipation. Her heart singing for joy, she let out a small laugh of delight and smiled at him happily.

"I'd love to."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The minute the words were out of Mori's mouth he regretted them. The startled look on Haruhi's face as she stared at him open-mouthed caused his heart to sink and his face to drain with the world-shattering realization of what he had just done.

You just asked out Haruhi on the insistence of some creepy pair of twins and it didn't work it didn't work……

He opened his mouth to stammer an apology before he got up and disappeared off of the face of the planet forever before Haruhi did something that shocked him.

She laughed. She let out a laugh of pure, unadulterated delight and fixed him with a smile so bright that he felt his heart float just looking at it.

"I'd love to."

_Oh my God it really worked…"_

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

**Oh dear God! Look! It's the world longest chapter! (faints) I think I have repetitive strain in my fingers from typing.**

**I know this is a complicated plot, I'm barely following it myself, so please direct any questions to me in review form and I'll do my best to help :P**

**Now I'm away on holiday this next week (hurray!) so I will not be able to update but I shall need the time to try and figure out what to write next :)**

**As always, please review!**

**Sakura Seraphim**


	3. Chapter 3

**Umm… I know it's been a really, really, reeeeeeally long time since I've updated this story… Gomenasai!!! bows on floor to lovely people who are nice enough to read my fics**

**I've just started university this year and I've been kept so incredibly busy I haven't had time to do anything. (I'm a medical student by the way, in case anyone cares)**

**Special thanks and apologies to SunniDanni, who emailed me and asked me to update. :P I'm so sorry, I didn't realize anyone was actually waiting for this.**

**Anyway I have a bit of spare time to write so on with the fic, forgive me if I'm a little rusty, it's been a while :P**

**Sakura Seraphim**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ouran High School Host Club or Love Egoist in any way, shape or form, in this or in any discovered and undiscovered dimensions**

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

_Looking at you, holding my breath,_

_For once in my life, I'm scared to death,_

_I'm taking a chance, letting you inside._

_Feeling alive all over again,_

_As deep as the sky, under my skin,_

_Like being in love, she says,_

_For the first time._

First Time - Lifehouse

Mori pulled his designer winter coat closer to his body, the expensive, expertly tailored material pulling taut against his chest as he breathed in the freezing air, cold fire etching a path through his lungs. His exhaled breath appeared in front of him in a white plume that quickly dispersed in the December air, crisp and fresh like the scene in front of him.

Fresh snow carpeted the grass, flowerbeds and paths of the park grounds, leaving a featureless white landscape marked only by the clumps of snow hooded trees that huddled to form silent, shadowy alcoves. The sky was a piercing, frozen blue, almost blinding to look at in the bright winter sunshine. The white expanse was dotted with colour where commoner children played, wrapped in so many layers of clothing by protective parents that to Mori's eyes they were no more than waddling coats with a small area of face visible between tightly wound scarf and bobbled hat. The frigid air was full of the shouts and battlecries of snowball fights, the delighted laughter at finished snowmen and the exhilarated cries as children raced down hills on sledges.

Mori smiled to himself behind his scarf as he watched a small boy push his sister yelling and kicking into a snowdrift before running away to avoid her wrath in the form of a snowball. He had suggested this in a desperate, rather Tamaki-esque bid not to hurt Haruhi's feelings by suggesting somewhere too expensive or somewhere she'd feel uncomfortable but to his extreme relief she had smiled happily and said that a walk in the park sounded perfect. As he stood waiting for her he couldn't help but feel he'd made the right choice. The combination of the bright sunshine, the laughter of families and children, and the faint Christmas music floating from a nearby café created an atmosphere of vitality and beauty.

Mori shifted uneasily from foot to foot, knocking small showers of snow from his boots as he scanned the crowds apprehensively for a familiar figure. No matter how perfect the atmosphere, he was still nervous. Potion or not, this was still a date with Haruhi. He wasn't worried about saying something wrong, his sparing use of speech caused him to think very carefully about the words he did use. But, he thought with a faint pang of guilt, this was only temporary so he must not take advantage of the situation, He must take the utmost care not to do or say anything that could be construed as inappropriate. He must escort her for the day, like a perfect gentleman and…

"Mori-senpai?"

Mori turned, startled, to his left and found himself looking down straight into Haruhi's dark eyes. He suppressed the urge to let his mouth drop open; Haruhi looked even cuter than usual wrapped in her hooded duffel coat, a colourful striped scarf wound around her neck and her cheeks and nose reddened by the cold air. She was smiling an adorably nervous smile with her hands tucked behind her back, her breath misting before her.

He turned to face her, forgetting his nerves in a second with the realization that Haruhi was here, here to see him, and only him. He looked fondly down at her with a warm smile and nodded his usual silent greeting. Haruhi's lips parted for a second and she cast her eyes down with a small smile as her cheeks reddened in a way that had nothing to do with the cold. Mori's heart skipped a little, was Haruhi blushing? For him? A nasty voice at the back of his mind helpfully cut into his wondering amazement, pointing out that it wasn't real. That Haruhi wasn't herself.

Haruhi looked back up at him, her beautiful eyes shining in the winter sunlight. "Shall we go?"

Smiling back at her, Mori pushed the negative voice aside, burying it in thoughts of how cute Haruhi looked, how sweet her smile was and how soft her voice was. Even if this wasn't real, even if it was only for a short time, he was determined to do his best; to make the most of it and hopefully make sure Haruhi was as happy as he was. Gazing down at her, he found the courage to slip his large hand over her small one, fingers folding together and feeling like the most natural thing in the world. He nodded. "Hai."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Haruhi stood hesitantly on the snow-shoveled path, fingers fidgeting distractedly with the tassels on her scarf as she gazed across to snow covered ground, over the heads of playing children, to where Mori was standing waiting. Waiting for her. Without the normal presence of Hunny hanging over his shoulder or hovering at his side, Mori looked more the wild type than ever, his face ruggedly handsome, the wind tugging at his dark hair and expensive clothes as he gazed with unfathomable gray eyes across the snow. Even as she watched, a group of girls walked past him, slowing their steps as they looked back over their shoulders at him, eyes wide and lips parted. Haruhi watched with narrowed eyes as he turned around and idly caught their eyes before turning away. The girls continued up the path giggling and whispering to each other, occasionally stealing a glance back over their shoulders at the tall, dark stranger.

Haruhi was surprised to find herself glaring at these girls as they passed her. She stopped with a flash of guilt, she had no more claim to Mori than these girls did. Not really.

She turned back to where Mori was standing, biting her lower lip anxiously. She knew it was rude to keep him waiting like this, he'd asked her here after all, but over and over again in her minds eye she saw Mori drinking the potion-laced tea and over and over again she realized that this wasn't real. Could never be real. She was wasting her time…

But still, she couldn't just leave, not after she'd accepted his invitation. Besides, she thought as she started walking towards him, if this was her one chance to make Mori see her as something other than Tamaki's daughter, or Kyouya's servant, or the twins' toy, as something more, then she had to make the most of it.

She stopped next to him, but he hadn't seen her, he was too busy scanning the crowds. Looking for her she realized with a faint thrill. Hands tucked demurely behind her back, she drew a deep breath.

"Mori-senpai"

He seemed startled by the sound her voice and turned surprised to look at her. She smiled nervously, praying feverently

that short-term memory loss wasn't an unmentioned side effect of the twins' potion, but was relieved when he returned her smile and nodded his greeting to her. She cast her eyes away, feeling her face blush under his gaze, before smiling back up at him. "Shall we go?"

Still smiling, Mori nodded to her. "Hai."

She was so preoccupied by his warm, sincere gaze and the deep lull of his voice that she didn't register the warmth and pressure on her hand until she looked down and saw Mori's hand closed gently over hers, fingers entwined tightly together. Mori's smile had faltered when she had looked down so suddenly, but returned quickly was she grinned up at him, delighted.

Relishing the warmth and softness of his skin against hers, she took a step forward, tugging at his hand. "Lets go!"

Smiling happily, she turned her face to the frozen sky and felt the winter sun warm her face. It was a beautiful day, she was here with Mori holding her hand, and best of all…there was no way the host club could ruin this…….

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"My daughter!!! Don't worry precious, Daddy will save you! Daddy's com….mmmffffmmmphh!!!!!"

Tamaki pulled his head out of the snowdrift, sputtering and blinking in bewilderment as he shook snow from his hair. Remembering that his poor daughter was at that very moment being mislead and corrupted, he struggled to find his footing before Hunny's foot planted firmly on his back sent him straight back into the drift with a yell and a spray of powdery snow.

"Tama-chan, I told you that you could only come if you promised to behave and not interfere." Hunny said serenely as his foot, small but deceptively strong, kept Tamaki pinned to the ground in a tangle of flailing limbs and French curses.

Hunny looked over his shoulder, his face darkening and eyes narrowing into a thunderous expression, unsettlingly out of place on such a childlike face. "That goes for all of you."

The twins gulped and huddled a little closer together. Even Kyouya's eyes widened almost imperceptibly behind his glasses. Dark Hunny was a force to be reckoned with, even for the Shadow King.

Looking like a blizzard-beaten puppy, Tamaki scrambled through the snow and tugged pitifully at Kyouya's trouser leg. "Mom! Haruhi's being rebellious again! We have to save her!"

Kyouya sighed and shifted stance, tugging his trouser leg out of Tamaki's grasp and sending him sprawling again. Adjusting his glasses with one hand he looked expressionlessly at the pair in the distance. "Since she's with Mori-senpai, I doubt she actually needs saving. She's probably the safest person in the whole park."

"But Mom!"

"Don't call me Mom."

Recognizing a hopeless case, Tamaki changed tactic at lightning speed. He spun round, furious expression and accusing finger aimed directly at the twins. "It was you two wasn't it!? You put Mori-senpai up to this! You plotted this whole thing as a way to corrupt your poor sister!" he wailed.

Hikaru frowned and folded his arms. "Milord, if we wanted to corrupt Haruhi, we're perfectly capable of doing it ourselves."

"Besides," sighed Kaoru with a shrug, "I would hardly call a walk in the park with Mori-senpai corruption."

"That's not the point!" Tamaki wailed. "Even if it is Mori, father does _not_ approve!!! I…"

"Tama-chan…"

Tamaki cringed backwards with a whimper and raised his hands in self defense against the small boy who was staring out over the snowy landscape, the wind tugging his golden hair away from his childlike face, with its characteristic cheerful smile replaced with an expression of unfathomable thoughtfulness.

"Think of today as compensation." he said speculatively, "Takashi barely gets to spend any time at all with Haru-chan at club, she's too busy with the rest of us... So, I think we owe him one day, and today, it's important to Takashi. And I think…" Hunny clutched usa-chan a little closer to his chest as he turned, looking at the other hosts with a smile which sweet as it always was, was tinged with sadness and a little wistfulness.

"…I think today is important to Haru-chan too."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Haruhi walked with her face cast down, smiling and hoping feverently that the hair falling into her eyes also hid her blushing cheeks. Every time she gathered the courage to steal a glance upwards, maybe even to make conversation, the sight of Mori walked silently at her side, with dark eyes scanning the crowds and a faint smile on his lips, or the feeling of his hand shifting to get a more comfortable grip on hers left her blushing like an idiot.

Still, she thought somewhere in the warm pink cloud that was her mind, it wasn't as if it was an uncomfortable silence. It never was with Mori-senpai. It was more like…a silence with no room for awkward feelings because there was nothing that needed to be said. Trivial worries and everyday anxieties melted away and left only the contented knowledge that all was left were the important things. The ones that didn't need to be voiced.

Maybe that's why she always felt so safe with Mori she thought, sneaking a glance at him from underneath her eyelashes. She spent a lot of her time at the club talking with the girls. Saying sweet words, bestowing gracious compliments and relating tales of tragic but oh so heartwarming commoner hardship, all to maintain the girls' image of who they thought she was. She even had to keep it up for the other hosts; humouring Tamaki, scolding the twins, playing along with Hunny and being carefully polite to Kyouya. But with Mori…she felt that she could say nothing. Nothing at all. And not only would he understand what she was feeling, it would be her real feelings, not the ones she superimposed onto her expressions to make the girl's swoon, or to keep the other hosts happy.

With a start she realized that they had strayed from the main path onto a smaller one, more or less hidden under a blanket of snow. The sounds of laughing, shouting children and scolding parents were growing fainter, distorted by the winter wind. The trees cleared from the main area of the park were growing thicker, with snow-laden branches interlacing above their heads to form a canopy, turning the harsh winter sunlight into a subdued, beautiful glow. By the time they'd walked a little farther through the trees and reached a clearing, Haruhi had forgotten her embarrassment, and was gazing upwards at the slivers of pure sunlight that pierced the canopy of snow covered trees and sparkled on the snow and the frost covered ground. Everything seemed so clean and pure in this sleepy silent alcove of trees and she looked around her with a smile, hoping Mori found the simple beauty of this place as enrapturing as she did.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Mori watched Haruhi with a gentle smile as their path led them into a small clearing of trees. He'd been anxious watching her walk with her eyes cast down, hiding behind her hair, petrified that she was regretting her decision to come out with him. That she was just wishing to be somewhere else. With someone else.

He watched with relief as Haruhi looked around her, the light in the clearing giving her face a gentle glow dappled with the sunlight that laced between the branches. He was ever mindful of her small feet trailing along the path as she became more absorbed in her surroundings, always ready to catch her if she should trip.

He was aware of the beauty of this clearing, with its sleeping snow-cloaked trees and frost laced surfaces, but to him, Haruhi outshone its beauty tenfold as she turned to him, her eyes shining with childlike wonder and said, "Mori-senpai! It's snowing!"

He blinked in surprise and turned his face to the sky. Snow was falling, thickening the layers on the branches, although some fell through the gaps and silently floated around them to the ground. With a cry of delight, Haruhi let go of his hand and ran forward a few steps, face turned to the sky and hands held out palms up to catch the flakes as they fell. He followed her with his eyes as she wandered among the falling snow, letting it settle in her hair and in the creases of her clothes. He saw her eyes sparkle as they darted around the clearing following the slow descent of the snowflakes. He saw a thoughtful smile tug at her lips as a single snowflake landed and melted on her nose.

He saw her foot snag underneath an arched tree root hidden underneath the snow.

Mori was halfway across the clearing before Haruhi even realized that she was falling, eyes widening in shock and lips parting to cry out as she fell. Unthinkingly, Mori leapt, closing his arms around Haruhi and twisting as he fell so that he would hit the ground with her on top. He felt his back hit the ground, frozen hard underneath the blanket of snow, and skidded a little with Haruhi's delicate form cradled to his chest. He heard her cry out and felt her grip at his jacket as they hit the ground.

They skidded to a halt under a tree, and the clearing was silent again apart from two sets of harsh breathing.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Haruhi cursed herself as she lay in Mori's arms, her hands twisted in the fabric of his jacket and her breaths coming shallow and fast. How could she be so clumsy? Because she couldn't even look where she was going Mori had had to save her, again. Not only that but it must have hurt him, jumping after her like that, she'd felt the impact when they hit the ground and it must have been worse for him. He must think she was useless…

"Haruhi?"

Startled, Haruhi glanced up, freezing when her gaze met a pair of dark gray eyes, full of concern. She felt her mind go numb and her thought process derail as she realized something that had been tugging at the edge of her consciousness for the past minute or two. She had fallen, plus Mori had jumped after her, and gravity had intervened at some point.

Therefore, she was lying on the ground. On top of Mori. With Mori's arms wrapped around her and looking up into his eyes.

Mori had pulled himself into a half sitting position against a tree trunk, his strong arms easily wrapping right around her body so that she was cradled to his chest. She was so close that she could feel the steady beat of his heart next to hers, smell the scent of soap on his skin, see the snowflakes caught in his dark hair. When her fragmented brain finally managed to register something other than dark, somber eyes, she realized that Mori was speaking to her.

"Haruhi. Are you hurt?"

His eyes were dark with concern and flitting over her face, searching for scratches, bruises and bumps. And he looked…scared. Scared…for her? Even the thought filled her with joy, warming her to the bone and lifting her spirit. Real or potion-induced, the mere fact that Mori had acted so protectively towards her, the same way he acted with Hunny-senpai, was a clear indication of how he felt.

Or thought he felt anyway.

Shaking herself out of these thoughts, she bullied her brain into forming a coherent sentence. She smiled shyly and said, "H-Hai Mori-senpai, I'm fine." The sound of Mori's body hitting the ground as he fell echoed through her memory, and her eyes flew to his, widened and panicked. "I'm so sorry! Are you hurt Mori-senpai!?"

He shook his head slightly, dislodging a few snowflakes. "No."

Worried, she pulled her head up a little from his chest and looked at him, biting her lip fretfully. "Are you sure?"

He looked back down at her with a smile that made her heart skip.

"Hai."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Mori couldn't help but smile as she looked up at him. It wasn't just that she looked so incredibly adorable curled against his chest like that, with snow in her hair and caught on her long eyelashes. It was that she seemed so concerned about him. Her eyes shone with alarm and she was biting her lip in her anxiety as she looked at him. It amused him slightly that she didn't seem to realize that it didn't matter whether or not he was hurt, there was nothing he wouldn't do to protect her. No pain he wouldn't suffer for her sake.

But still…

To have her worry about him, to be so concerned about him, even just to care whether or not he was hurt…

Even if it wasn't real…

He smiled down at her as she searched his face for some trace, some telltale sign that he was lying. When she found none she smiled back at him, a smile so relieved and full of warmth that he felt his heart speed up in his chest. He wondered if she could feel it too.

She looked so beautiful, lying like that. Her eyes, dark and framed by full, thick, snow coated eyelashes, glittered like gems in her face. Her skin was flushed, whether from the cold air or from blushing he couldn't tell. Her perfect, doll-like lips were parted slightly as her breath misted before her. As he watched, a single snowflake floated lazily down and landed on her cheek.

"Mori-senpai?"

Her voice was hesitant and timid as she looked up at him, no doubt confused as to why he was staring at her. Wordlessly he reached for her face with one bare hand, and smoothed his thumb over her cheek, wiping away the snowflake as if it were a tear.

Her face flushed instantly, and this time he knew it had nothing to do with the cold. It struck him just how close they were, Haruhi's delicate body cradled in his arms, her face inches from his, their misted breath merging in the air between them, their gazes locked together.

Somewhere in his mind, a renegade insane thought broke through the barrier of common sense and logic and suggested that he kiss her. That he just lean in a few inches and press his lips against hers.

He might have done it too.

But then it snowed.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Haruhi coughed and spluttered as she scrambled upright, powdery snow cascading off her clothes and hair. She shook her head, another small shower falling from her hair. Bewildered, she looked upwards, searching for the cause of the sudden snowstorm. The branches of the tree above her were suspiciously devoid of snow, and bright sunlight lanced through its branches, making her squint.

But, trees don't just decide to dump snow on people… A bird maybe? Or the wind?

She looked across at Mori, who was also shaking snow from his hair and clothes and glaring accusingly at the tree. He looked at her with a frown as he ran a hand through his hair.

"Haruhi… you're shivering."

She was shivering, she noticed. The snow had hit her like a ton of bricks, covering her body and falling down her collar and up her sleeves. She was wet and cold and the wind hurt her face like knives.

She watched as wordlessly, Mori shrugged off his expensive designer coat and drew it around her, pulling it close around her to block the wind. From within the folds of the jacket, several sizes too big for her, Haruhi looked up at him. "Mori-senpai, I couldn't."

Looking concerned, Mori shook his head. "No. You'll catch pneumonia, you must warm up."

Without another word, he scooped her up into his arms and began to carry her back along the path to the main part of the park. Haruhi tensed as she was picked up, but then relaxed and closed her eyes, lulled by Mori's steady step and the rhythm of his heartbeat. She buried her face further into his coat; the fabric was soft and smelled pleasingly like Mori.

Stupid snow, she thought bitterly, I was sure he was going to kiss me there…

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

A little while away, Tamaki was once again being pinned facedown in a snowdrift by Hunny's bunny patterned snow boots. Hunny stood over him, usa-chan pinned in his folded arms and a thunderous expression on his face. "I warned you Tama, no interfering!"

As Tamaki raised his head, gasping for air, he wailed, "I had to protect my daughter's virtue! It is a father's duty and a father's right to protect his daughter no matter what!"

Hunny expression grew darker still as he leaned harder on Tamaki's back, forcing him once again into the snow. "So you threw a snowball at them?"

"I didn't aim it at her!"

"You dumped about a ton of snow of their heads Tama!"  
"It was for her own good! Tell him Mom!"

"Don't call me Mom."

"This is boring, lets go look at the commoners Christmas food."

"Yeah, coming milord?"

"But Haruhi! She mmphffffmpphhhhhh!!!"

"Guess not."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

As Mori proceeded along the path with Haruhi held in his arms, he was unaware that they were being observed.

"Hey lady, why do you two look so weird?"

"Be quiet child, lest we should put a curse on you."

"Yes. We shall turn your insides to dust."

"So leave us alone."

The child blinked at the two girls from under his bobbled hat before turning on his heel and running back into the fray of a nearby snowball fight.

The two girls didn't bother to watch him go, their eyes were trained on the tall, dark-haired host as he set the small girl down by his car and ushered her quickly inside out of the snow. The two girls sitting side by side on the bench were dressed in perfect Victorian winter dress, lace gloved hands folded sedately on the laps of their dark crinoline dresses. One girls hair fell in a mass of almost white blonde curls from under her bonnet, spilling over her shoulders in the same way her sisters raven hair did.

They followed the car silently with their eyes until it turned the corner and vanished from view.

The blonde twin smiled, a slow cat like smile. "I think the next week may be very interesting. Don't you agree, Barako?"

The dark haired twin matched her sister's smile exactly. "Indeed, Nadeshiko. Very interesting indeed."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

**I'm finally finished this chapter! Finally!!!!! falls over**

**Again, I am so so so so so so so so so so so very sorry that it took so long, I'll try to update sooner I promise. I also think I may start doing some little Ouran drabbles and oneshots, seeing as I appear to be physically incapable of any full length story that isn't about Haruhi and Mori… I'd love to hear any requests or ideas for pairings or scenarios which can be submitted in review or email form. **

**Please please review, I really love it when you do. :)**

**And now, I must find my muse… I see you bitch! You can't hide from me anymore! chases muse with a humorously large net**

**Sakura Seraphim**


	4. Chapter 4

**Greetings fellow Mori x Haruhi otakus,**

**Again, I am aware that it has been ages and ages and ages and ages since I have updated, and again I am incredibly sorry and thank you all very very very much for taking the time to read this, especially if it's on your alert list.**

**But, I ask you to appreciate that this chapter has been painstakingly constructed piece by piece in the little spare time I have now that my exams are looming ahead like an iceberg.**

**I fear that the constant reading of medical textbooks had left me slightly unhinged, even more so than usual, so please bear with me and try not to judge me too harshly…**

**As always,**

**Sakura Seraphim**

**Disclaimer: Much to my regret, I do not own Ouran High School Host Club or Love Egoist, they belong, as always to the immortal genius that is Bisco Hatori**

**- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - **

_And I'd give up forever to touch you  
'Cause I know that you feel me somehow  
You're the closest to heaven that I'll ever be  
And I don't want to go home right now_

_And all I can taste is this moment  
And all I can breathe is your life  
'Cause sooner or later it's over  
I just don't want to miss you tonight_

Iris – Goo Goo Dolls

Monday

The library was an oasis of hushed stillness. The snow falling silently but heavily outside the frost-laced windows muffled all sound from the outside world, while the towering bookcases and stern gazes of the librarians forbade sound within.

Even the libraries of Ouran High School were majestic. It reminded Haruhi of a cathedral not only in its sheer size that demanded silence, if not reverence, but also in its grandiose design. Of course the library was equipped with a computer lab with the finest equipment available for the students' use, but the reading area had retained a more classical design.

Ceiling-high bookshelves lined the wall, requiring the use of attached ladders for the uppermost shelves, containing books on every subject by every author she was ever likely to need, and several she never would. Beautiful multi-paned glass windows, glittering with frost beyond which snow silently quilted the window ledges, spanned the wall. The snow filtered the winter sunlight, giving the library a subdued and almost ethereal glow as students trod quietly from level to level on the carpeted stairs, strolled among the bookshelves or sat absorbed in their books on vintage leather couches.

Haruhi herself sat alone at one of the polished wooden tables, a stack of books to one side and an open notebook in front of her. Studious as this tableau sounds, advanced algebra was the farthest thing from Haruhi's mind as she gazed out into the falling snow, tapping her pencil absentmindedly on the table.

She knew she should be taking advantage of this time; peace and quiet was not something that figured largely in Haruhi's afternoons these days. Tamaki had come down with a cold at the weekend for some reason that seemed to make the twins shake with barely constrained laughter while Hunny smiled sweetly but somewhat mysteriously in the background. Anyway, rather than attempt to distract the deluge of distraught Tamaki fans with just the six of them as well as entertain their own customers, Kyouya had opted to cancel club this afternoon, politely but firmly turning away the disappointed girls.

She sighed as she watched the flakes whirl past the window; she hadn't seen Mori all day. He'd been unusually absent from Hunny's side when she'd shown up at club as usual, albeit slightly late. She had watched for him in the corridors between classes and even now her gaze was sometimes snatched from the window when a tall, dark-haired student happened to pass her. Common sense told her to stop acting like a lovesick idiot and use this precious free time to study, but she couldn't help but remind herself that she only had five days left and she shouldn't be wasting them here.

The last she'd seen of Mori was Sunday afternoon, when he'd dropped her off at her house after the park. She'd been bundled into the car and out of the cold, to sit on the soft leather seat while Mori gave quiet but firm orders to the driver. He'd sat next to her and even placed his arm around her shoulder, probably just to keep her warm rather than for any romantic reason, but she had delighted in it nonetheless, snuggling into his coat which was still wrapped around her while she leaned against the reassuring solidness of his body.

She'd been sorry when they had arrived at her house but had protested weakly that she could walk on her own as Mori lifted her gently out of the car. He put her down hesitantly, and despite her smiles and assurances that she was alright he had followed close behind her in case she should succumb to a sudden fit of fainting. The memory of his concern, of his protectiveness warmed her now as it had then, more than the coat had. To be treated as if she was so special, so precious. To see such concern in his eyes and feel such gentleness in his touch, as if he were scared she might break, was worth all the snow in the world falling on her head.

When her father had opened the door and seen her standing there, hair damp and bedraggled, face red with the cold and shivering slightly in her damp clothes despite Mori's jacket, he had cried out in alarm and snatched her inside out of the cold, leaving Mori standing in the doorway holding his now Haruhi-less coat and wearing a slightly bemused expression. While her father felt her forehead for fever and tried to rub some warmth back into her hands he fired questions at her without giving her time to answer; Was she alright? Did she feel feverish? She was wet, did she fall in a pond? Was she hurt? Should he call a doctor? Was it that idiot Tamaki's fault? It was, wasn't it?

Desperately assuring her father she was alright, she felt fine, she didn't fall in a pond, she wasn't hurt, a doctor wasn't necessary, for once it wasn't Tamaki's fault, yes she was sure; she glanced over her father's shoulder just in time to see Mori turn with a soft smile and a small wave and disappear back down the stairs. Heart dipping with disappointment, she had allowed her father to hustle her into a hot bath.

Haruhi sighed and looked glumly down at her algebra notebook. She hadn't even had a chance to thank him properly. Shaking her head, she glared with renewed intensity at her work. She was a practical minded person and it wasn't in her nature to feel sorry for herself or waste her time brooding over circumstances. She read the same sentence three times without registering any meaning, the letters and numbers seemed to squirm on the page, twisting themselves and dancing just beyond her comprehension. She groaned and slumped forward with her head in her arms, it was no use, she'd never get her head around this.

"Haruhi?"

Startled, she jerked her head off her arms and looked around, although she had recognized the voice before she saw the speaker. Mori was looking down at her, eyebrows drawn into a concerned gaze, a heavy looking history textbook held easily in one large hand. She stared at him, as uncomprehending if not even more so than she had been a moment ago. What was he doing here?

She smiled apologetically and straightened up, looking down at her notes.

"I…"

Out of the corner of her eye she saw one of Mori's hands rest on the back of the chair next to her.

"May I?"

Still not in full control of the situation, it took her a minute to grasp his meaning. He wanted to sit with her. She managed to restrain herself from grinning like an idiot and instead offered a small smile before stammering, "Of course."

Mori smiled warmly back at her and pulled out the chair as she distracted herself by shuffling her books out of his way so he wouldn't see her blush.

He sat down next to her and pulled his own books out of his bag. Fidgeting nervously with her pen, she said softly, "Mori-senpai?"

He turned to her, not saying a word but accosting her with a soft gaze that invited her to continue.

Encouraged, she felt a little more comfortable. "I just wanted to thank you for yesterday. For taking care of me."

He looked at her for a moment, something unreadable in his expression, before he smiled gently at her and asked quietly, in his usual deep voice, "How are you feeling?"

She smiled back. "I'm fine really, I apologise for my father. He can be a little irrational…"

He nodded, still smiling, and without a word opened his book and began reading.

They sat that way for a while, in a comfortable silence, content in each other's company. Haruhi smiled softly to herself, soothed by the steady sound of his breathing and the faint smell of his aftershave, reassured by the solid warmth of his body next to her. She tried to concentrate on her work, but it continued to elude her. Intelligent though she was, algebra was the one subject she found difficult. She didn't see why mathematics needed to involve letters when there was perfectly sensible numbers around to do the job. She normally achieved her usual high marks in the subject simply by devoting more time and effort to it, but in the past month Kyouya had always needed her for something club-related, and there had been chores and daily twin-harassment and somehow she just hadn't found the time. She frowned at the page, as if she could force the numbers to rearrange themselves into an answer through sheer force of will.

She felt the skin on the back of he neck stand up as she felt Mori shift closer to her, as she saw his hand reach over hers and gently take the pencil from her unresisting fingers. She felt his breath on her neck as he spoke to her gently.

"Here…"

He erased what she had just written, smoothing away flecks of rubber, and leaned a little closer. She could feel the warmth of his body through his shirt and the deep rumble of his voice in his chest as he softly explained the problem too her. Her breath was caught in her throat and she was sure Mori must be able to feel her heart pounding so close to his.

Distracted as she was by the imminent presence of Mori, she was astounded to find that as he explained gently to her, thoroughly but without patronizing her, and gestured with the pencil at the working, she did begin to understand. The numbers and figures resolved themselves into coherent equations and she could follow the steps without confusion.

Delighted, she let out a small laugh, "I understand!"

She beamed at him, forgetting for a moment her embarrassment at their close proximity. "Thank you so much, Mori-senpai."

He looked taken aback for a moment, but smiled, seeming genuinely happy that she was pleased. He suddenly seemed to remember himself, drawing back from her quickly and blushing.

"No problem…" he muttered, glancing aside, although Haruhi could still see that he was smiling faintly.

His hand still lay next to her on the table, and encouraged by his reaction, Haruhi was working up the courage to take it, when fate intervened in the form of a fangirl…

"Mori-kun! There you are!"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -** - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - **

Mori had been walking distractedly among the bookshelves when he saw her.

He was annoyed at not having seen her all day and had been concerned for her health since Sunday afternoon. After bundling her into the car and giving Haruhi's address to his driver, he had sat next to her and unthinkingly placed an arm around her shoulder purely with the intent of keeping her warm. It occurred to him moments later that it could have been thought of as forward, perhaps inappropriate, and cursing himself for his idiocy he had been about to pull his arm away and apologise. Haruhi however had just nestled further into his coat and leaned willingly against him.

He had stared at her, caught between amazement and adoration. She looked so cute, only her closed eyes and reddened nose visible over the top of his collar, hair tousled from the wind and dampened by her sudden snow-shower. He smiled and pulled her a little closer.

When they reached her apartment he lifted her out of the car, holding her gently but being infinitely careful not to drop her or hurt her. At her protestations, he had put her down reluctantly, and followed her up to her front door, hands never far from her sides in case she should fall, eyes trained on her feet in case she should trip again.

As they reached the front door, it occurred to him that he had no idea what he should do if her father wasn't at home. It was unthinkable to leave her on her own in this condition, but then again, it was also highly inappropriate of him to be alone with her in her house.

Luckily, he was saved from the agony of this indecision by Ranka, who wailed when he saw his daughter and snatched her immediately inside the house. He watched for a moment as he fussed over Haruhi in a way eerily reminiscent of Tamaki before deciding that Haruhi was clearly in safe, if slightly frantic, hands.

Catching her eye briefly as he left, he had offered a small smile and a wave before shrugging on his coat and returning to his car.

He had arrived late to club after class and on arriving had been told that Tamaki had been struck down with a cold and club was canceled. Also the twins wouldn't stop sniggering for some reason.

He had been about to walk Mitsukuni home, as usual, when his cousin announced that he was going to the dojo for extra karate practice and that Takashi needn't bother waiting for him. Turning to go, his cousin looked back and smiled devilishly at him.

"Takashi? I think Haru-chan said she was going to the library."

With an adorably sweet smile, he skipped away down the hall, followed by his usual Hunny flowers.

Mori frowned at her cousin's retreating back and stood alone in the corridor for a moment before pushing his way through the crowd of inconsolable Tamaki fans, those who had not already rushed off to order 'get-well-soon' gifts.

He suddenly had a pressing urge to study in the library.

And so, Mori had been walking distractedly among the bookshelves when he saw her. She was sitting alone at one of the tables, books open in front of her, but staring through the frosted windows at the snow. The light cast on her face made it glow and her eyes gleamed.

As he hesitantly began to approach her, she groaned and slumped over her books. Eyes widening with alarm, he quickened his pace. Was she sick? Had she caught a cold yesterday? Or hypothermia? Maybe pneumonia?

"Haruhi?"

She looked up, startled by the sound of his voice and glanced down at her notes.

"I…"

Mori examined her worriedly, she didn't seem sick… Taking a deep breath, he laid his hand on the chair next to hers.

"May I?"

The question seemed to hang in the air between them for a moment as she stared at him. His heart sank, maybe the potion didn't work, maybe yesterday was a fluke, maybe she blamed him for what happened yesterday, maybe she hated him…

She rescued him from this world-shattering chain of thought with a smile and a simple gesture at the seat. "Of course."

Smiling gratefully, Mori pulled out the seat and sat down as Haruhi cleared a space for him. Determined not to disturb her study, he laid his own books on the desk and was about to start work when her soft voice interrupted him.

"Mori-senpai?"

He glanced at her, looking at him but seeming so anxious, fiddling nervously with her pen.

"I just wanted to thank you for yesterday. For taking care of me."

He stared at her dumbly for a moment, uncomprehending. Why was she thanking him? The act of taking care of her had seemed so natural, that she might as well have thanked him for breathing. She didn't seem to realize that he existed for her, to protect her and take care of her, anything she needed.

Still, he smiled back at her and took the opportunity to put his mind at rest, "How are you feeling?'

She returned his smile with her own radiant one. "I'm fine really, I apologise for my father. He can be a little irrational…"

Thinking once again of the likeness between Haruhi's real father and her host club 'father', Mori smiled and opened his book to read.

After trying several times to follow the text and failing hopelessly in the presence of the angel next to him. Mori risked a sidelong glance at her. She was glaring at the figures on the page as if they had accosted her a personal offence and biting her lip. He glanced at her working and saw where she had become confused.

Motivated simply out of desire to help her, he leaned closer to her and took the pencil from her hand. "Here…"

Trying desperately to ignore the feel of Haruhi's small frame against his body, the sound of her soft breathing and the light scent of peaches from her shampoo, as determinedly worked through the problem, being careful not to seem patronizing. Suddenly, he heard her gasp and laugh with sheer delight, exclaiming, 'I understand!"

Turning to face him, she smiled at him so sweetly that he thought the sun might as well disappear over the horizon forever rather than contend with the brightness of her smile and the warmth of her eyes. That she should smile so, and for him, for whatever little things he could do to help her, made him so simply happy that for a moment he forgot all about potions and creepy twins.

Suddenly realizing how close he was to her, her sweet face inches from her, knees touching under the desk, he drew back blushing.

"No problem…" he muttered, blushing.

Suddenly he felt something grip at his other elbow and looking down, saw fingers with nails manicured and painted a demure pink clutching his arm so tightly they might have been talons. A voice exclaimed, "Mori-kun! There you are!"

Groaning inwardly, already knowing what he would see, Mori looked up into the face of her biggest fan and worst nightmare, Akane Hakura.

"Hakura-san…" he muttered, averting his eyes and trying discreetly to pull his arm out of her grasp.

She giggled shrilly and flicked her blonde curls over her shoulder. "How many times do I need to tell you Mori-kun?! You can call me Akane-chan."

She pulled out the chair next to his and sat down, managing to pull her chair close to his as she did so. Most of his fans were the quiet type, shy girls who were content to sit with him and talk, or even just to sit with him. Akane was the exception. A host's worst nightmare, she was loud and rude, incredibly vain and easily made jealous. At Kyouya's admonitions and in his own sense of courtesy he tolerated her, but truthfully he couldn't stand the girl.

He noticed that Haruhi was seemly immersed in her newfound understanding of algebra, pointedly ignoring them.

On his other side, Akane leant on the desk, watching him with her pretty face balanced on her clasped hands.

"I was so disappointed when club was canceled Mori-kun!"

"Hmmm."

"It seems so unfair that just because Tamaki-kun is ill that the rest of us should suffer."

"Hmmm."

"I just _had_ to see you Mori-kun."

"Hmmm."

Clearly displeased by this lack of attention, Akane frowned, a flash of annoyance staining her pretty eyes. Clearly a more direct tactic was called for.

Sighing theatrically she clasped her hands around Mori's arm and pulled herself closer, forcing him to acknowledge her, which he did with extreme reluctance.

"Mori-kun, I need your help."

"Really…?" he muttered, disinterested.

She gazed at him with eyes wide and beseeching, " I simply _don't _understand this algebra homework Mori-kun! You're the only one who can help me."

Mori leaned back in his chair and gazed out of the window. Why wouldn't she just go away……

"I doubt that."

She arranged her face into what she clearly thought was a seductive pout. It wasn't.

"But you're so _good _at maths Mori-kun."

Mori shrugged, still looking out the window.

"Not really Hakura-san."

All the smiles and eyelash fluttering disappeared in an instant as she glared at him. She slammed a petite hand on the desk, making a thump that caused other students to glance round.

"Mori-kun! I _demand_ that you help me with my homework!"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -** - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - **

Haruhi ground her teeth as she tried to concentrate on her work. The shrieking blonde harpy refused to leave. She had to fight the urge to flinch at every high-pitched giggle, every hand on Mori's arm and carelessly spoken nickname.

She took some small comfort in the fact that Mori was blatantly ignoring the girl although, being Mori, was struggling to do so in as courteous a way as possible.

She felt a small glow of happiness as Mori firmly but politely refused to help with 'Akane-chan's' homework. Once again she felt special, different from this girl despite her pretty face and expensive grooming.

"Mori-kun! I _demand_ that you help me with my homework!"

Haruhi hunched over her book to hide a smile when she heard that. _Not so pretty on the inside are we 'Akane-chan'?_

She almost laughed when she saw Mori turn from the girl and pick up his book. Not looking back at the girl and beginning to read, eyes flitting across the page, he said simply,

"Not today Hakura-san."

Mouth opening and shutting in soundless rage, Akane thrust out a hand and knocked Mori's books off the table before storming out of the library.

Without watching her go, Mori calmly leant over to pick up his books.

She smiled at him, hand on her chin.

Mori looked up in time to catch her smile, and although he looked embarrassed for a moment, he returned it.

The spent the next two hours in a comfortable silence, the only sound the occasional turning of pages and the muted howl of the wind outside.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -** - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - **

"Umm……excuse me young misses…can I help you with something? To find a book maybe…?"

"Begone librarian minion!"

"But I…. But the two of you have been crouched behind that bookcase for nearly two hours now…"

"She said begone! Can't you see we are busy?'

"An interesting development Nadeshiko…"

"Indeed Barako. Very interesting…"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

**And now without further delay, I update. And then sleep. Sleep is good…**

**Gimme reviews please and thank you.**

**Much Mori love.**

**Sakura Seraphim**


	5. Chapter 5

**You know what? I'm not even going to bother apologizing for the ridiculous length between updates. Let's just accept that I am a terrible, horrible, unworthy-to-even-live excuse for an author, shall we?**

**That fact clarified, I thank you if you're still reading. I spent the last couple of months with no idea how this was going to go, and then it all hit me at once last night, so, here it is.**

**Better late than never, right? :P**

**(Be warned now, the next three chapters are pure, Mori x Haruhi fluff :) )**

**Sakura Seraphim**

**Disclaimer: Ouran High School Host Club and Love Egoist belong as always to Bisco Hatori alone. Not me…not you…unless of course you're her, in which case… I LOVE YOU!!**

**- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -**

_If I could touch the sound of silence now,  
you know I would.  
If I knew how  
to make these intentions come around  
and now I'm hearing without listening  
and believing every word that you're not saying  
speaking without a sound._

Cling and Clatter - Lifehouse

Tuesday

It always seemed a little strange to Haruhi that in a school with such a huge cafeteria, if such a crude word could be applied to a room with the relative proportions of a ballroom and décor that wouldn't be out of place in a five-star restaurant, she felt more comfortable eating alone in the classroom. Although her small bento with her haphazard collection of last night's leftovers paled in comparison to the gourmet spread on offer down the hall, the quiet classroom did have its advantages.

For example, there were no twins sitting on either side of her, trapping her in a suffocating embrace and trying to coax her into trying some of their lunch with an intimacy that made her uncomfortable and a nearby Tamaki almost apoplectic with rage. Even if she managed to escape those two, she was immediately caught between Tamaki trying to pull her away to another table for some quality father-daughter bonding, and Hunny tugging her arm and sweetly cajoling her into having some of his strawberry cream cake. Somewhere along the line, something usually got broken and she would always look around to see Kyouya smiling quietly to himself and scratching a new figure in the black bound debt folder that she had come to know and dread.

Smiling to herself, she let her gaze travel lazily across the deserted classroom, with Hikaru's desk on one side with his blazer hanging by one shoulder from the back of it, across the abandoned chairs and desks, over the blackboard with its half-erased conjugations of French verbs, to Kaoru's desk on her other side, his French notebook lying open where he had been copying from the board.

Snow whirled serenely past the window panes, giving the light in the room a glowing, ethereal quality.

She herself sat alone, head cupped in one hand as she stared dreamily out into the dancing snow, a textbook open but ignored in front of her, and her bento unopened and uneaten beside her.

Not for the first time that day, or the second, third or fourth time come to that, she found herself drifting gently in the memory of the day before. Of Mori's solid and somehow comforting presence next to her, of the deep, lulling sound of his voice and the intensity of his gaze…

At the sound of footsteps at the door she glanced up with an irritated frown. Probably the twins back to carry her kicking and screaming to the cafeteria, or Tamaki come the whine and beg until she gave in and went to eat with him out of sheer desperation.

She had just opened her mouth to let out a suitably angry retort when the words died in her throat. Mori was standing framed in the doorway, hand raised halfway to knock on the open door but face confused by her thunderous expression.

Her frown faded as fast as it had come and her face lit up in a sunny smile.

"Mori-senpai!" she cried, surprised yet delighted by is sudden appearance. "I'm sorry, I thought you were somebody else."

For a moment he seemed unsure and her breath caught in her throat, terrified that he would think himself unwelcome and walk way again.

To her eternal relief, he returned her smile and stepped over the threshold into the quiet classroom. He stopped a few steps away from her desk, his head cocked to one side and his dark eyes studying her with a thoughtful expression. Not in an unpleasant way, she thought to herself as she fought the urge to blush and fidget like a lovesick schoolgirl - which, ironically, is exactly what she was. His eyes drifted over her, tracing the features of her face as if there was nothing in the world he would rather be looking at, nothing more precious, or beautiful.

She felt her cheeks flush slightly in spite of herself; maybe this was how his customers felt all the time. For a moment she was caught between her usual envy of his customers and a wash of joy tinged with a faint smugness that he had come to see her rather than the other way around. But there was also a hollow, sadness as she remembered that it wasn't real. Not really.

"Do you always eat in here?" he asked quietly, still smiling, his deep voice seeming to fill the empty classroom, chasing the silence into corners.

"Yes," she replied, "It's quiet so I can usually get some studying done. Besides," she said with a short laugh, "It's about all the peace I get from Tamaki and the twins and everyone."

She regretted the words the instant they were out of her mouth. _Idiot! , _she thought dismally, _Now he's going to think you want him to leave so you can study your stupid textbook in peace! What the hell is wrong with you!?_

Opening her mouth to make an apology, but terribly sure that she would begin to babble like an idiot, she raised her eyes to his face. To her surprise and delight he was still smiling in a vaguely amused way and nodding agreeably. She relaxed, basking once again in that comforting feeling that Mori knew exactly what she meant to say, even if she never said it, and neither did he.

Suddenly she realized that Mori was carrying something in one hand, a beautiful, black-lacquered shokado bento box, which her placed gently on the table in front of her. She glanced up at him with wide, puzzled eyes and he smiled warmly at her.

"For you." he said softly.

She stared from the shining wood of the bento in front of her, to Mori, back again. At his encouraging nod, she carefully lifted the lid and glanced inside. She mouth dropped open, inside was the most expensive looking array of food she had ever seen. Her eyes traveled around what looked like all her favourite foods, exquisitely prepared and delicious –looking. And there, right in the middle, was a serving of ootoro. The one thing she desperately wanted to try, and that Tamaki and the others had been holding over her head as a bribe and a bargaining chip for months.

She glanced back up at Mori with tortured eyes.

"Mori-senpai…I couldn't possibly…I mean it's beautiful, and it looks…it looks…delicious…"

Her eyes strayed treacherously back to the wonderful bento box, which seemed to glow in the subdued, snowy light from outside. She shook her head and looked resolutely back at Mori.

"I couldn't accept this. I mean…I already have my lunch…"

She gestured half-heartedly at her meager leftovers, sealed in a scuffed Tupperware box on the other side of the table. With extreme reluctance, she pushed the expensive bento box back towards Mori with her fingertips.

The pressure of her fingers was met with resistance as Mori placed a hand on the side of the box, and was overcome when he pushed it gently back towards her. He captured her eyes in a determined stare, edged with warmth and even a subtle amusement.

"For you." he said firmly.

He cut her off as she stubbornly opened her mouth again to argue.

"Please." he said, his voice and his eyes softer this time.

Recognizing a lost battle when she saw it, Haruhi succumbed gladly. She smiled radiantly up at Mori, her eyes shining.  
"Arigato, Mori-senpai."

He smiled back at her, not the guarded, half-smile that he normally wore for customers, even for the other hosts, but a genuine smile. Warm and affectionate, showing simple a delight in her happiness that made her love him more than ever.

He gave her a final nod and turned to leave, looking back over one shoulder at her long enough to say, "Enjoy it."

Haruhi felt her joy in his present fade almost instantly at the sight of his retreating back, and she opened her mouth and called to him unthinkingly.

"Mori-senpai?"

He halted in the doorway and glanced back at her, his face open and his silence welcoming her to continue.

"I…I mean, I could never eat all this alone." she gestured vaguely at the food in front of her. "That is…would you like to stay and have some? With me…" she finished lamely.

For a moment, she thought he might refuse, that he might turn away from her again and walk away. But instead, he just smiled, nodded, and turned back to her.

He walked across the room, pausing only to grab the back of Hikaru's chair and pull it up to Haruhi's desk so that he was facing her across the table.

They spent the remaining half hour of lunchtime in a companionable silence, exempting Haruhi's occasional exclamations of delight over the heavenly taste of the food.

Especially the ootoro.

When Kaoru and Hikaru returned with the rest of the class after lunch, laughing and joking, they found Haruhi sitting alone as they had left her, staring dreamily out of the window and smiling serenely.

They had to call her name three times before she heard them, and even then she responded to their questions and jokes in a faintly detached way, barely listening.

She was too busy wondering in a slightly amused way that after all her anticipation of trying such expensive cuisine, her favourite part of the meal hadn't been the food, it hadn't even been the ootoro.

It had been that one moment when she had left a lingering smear of sauce on her lower lip, and Mori had slowly reached out one hand and gently cupped the side of her face. Eyes never leaving hers, he had let his thumb glide over the soft skin of her face and carefully wiped the trace of sauce off her lip.

Heart pounding in her chest, she hadn't even noticed the bell ringing until Mori and risen from Hikaru's seat and left the classroom as silently as he had come, with a nod and a smile as he left.

She smiled to herself and pulled her eyes away from the windows and her gaze away from daydreams of Mori and back to the far less preferable view of her teacher writing this weeks reading assignment on the board.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Not many of the students of Ouran high school would be able to tell you that from the right angle in one of the designated club rooms on the west side of the third floor of the North building, you could see directly into 1A's classroom.

Toshiki Namikiri, president of the Ouran photography club stared resolutely ahead at his fellow club members with the expression of one who intends to do his duty in spite of great odds, and indeed, great distractions. But even as he did, he couldn't miss the occasional uneasy, curious and downright confused glances that the other members were throwing at the window.

"On today's agenda…"

His eyes flickered irritatedly towards the window and then back and he subjected his notes to furious scrutiny.

"On today's agenda, we need to discuss those wishing to enter the annual district still-life competition this year. As you…all…know…we…" he tailed off.

Unable to ignore it any longer he stood up and cautiously approached the nearest window.

"Excuse me," he began uncertainly, before giving in completely to angry bewilderment and abandoning all pretense of politeness. "What the _hell_ are you two doing?"

The nearest girl, silvery blonde hair tied back in a high ponytail pointed a finger straight at him with perfect accuracy. Impressive seeing as she hadn't moved from her position crouching on the sideboard at the windowsill or glanced away from the binoculars she had glued to the window and angled downward to somewhere in the opposite building presumably.

"Silence fool, can't you see we're busy."

Toshiki stepped a couple of paces backwards before glancing at the other girl, appealing desperately from some kind of sense from what was clearly the girl's sister.

"But…you're kind of disrupting our club…"

The dark-haired girl let out a small, derisive laugh, binoculars also fixed on some distant point.

"Pitiful fool, this is clearly so much more important than your pathetic club. Now, silence."

"But…"

"Silence!"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

**Review please and thank you!! **


	6. Chapter 6

**Yet another fluffy chapter, and again, I'm so sorry it's been so long…**

**Sakura Seraphim **

**Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Ouran High School Host Club or Love Egoist, they belong to Bisco Hatori. Some people have all the luck…**

**- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - **

_I'm standing,  
I'm waiting,  
I'm falling more in love with you_

May – Lifehouse

Wednesday

Mori stepped out of the Ouran dojo and into the frigid night air.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, feeling the icy air etching a freezing path down his throat and through his lungs, sharp and metallic with the smell of snow. His blood was still pumping fast enough from his evening practice session that he wasn't yet cold enough to pull on his jacket, and he relished the tingle of the December air on his bare skin, cooling his feverish body temperature and freezing the sweat beaded on his forehead.

He was the last one to leave the dojo this evening; even Mitsukuni had dismissed his karate class and skipped home half an hour ago, ignoring Mori's offer to see him home. He had been alone, stepping surely and confidently through well-learned sequences of moves. His kendo shinai moving in slow, ponderous arcs but never wavering an inch from where it was supposed to be.

School over for the day, host club duties attended to, and now kendo practice finished. It was getting late, and stars were scattered across the sky like dropped diamonds on black velvet.

He shivered, beginning to feel the cold now, and shrugged on his overcoat, pulling it close to him to block out the night air. He walked down the path, shoes crunching in the snow, dirty and matted from the passage of other students.

Having called his chauffeur before he left the dojo, he turned onto the sweeping gravel pathway leading down through snow-laden lawns to the school's main gates.

"Ah, Mori-senpai!"

Mori halted suddenly in his tracks, knowing whose voice had called out to him but not quite believing it. There was sound exactly like small feet jogging lightly across the snowy gravel towards him.

He turned just in time to see Haruhi stop in front of him after running from where she had been sitting on the bench outside the dojo, waiting. Waiting…for him?

He gazed at her in horror as realization dawned like a terrible sunrise, she had been waiting here for him? For how long? Minutes? Hours? It was freezing out here and her cheap coat couldn't be very efficient at keeping her warm. What if she caught pneumonia? Or hypothermia?

She looked up him with laughing eyes as she fought to get her breath back, her breath coming in short, sharp clouds of vapour.

"I almost missed you there, I was in a world of my own." she laughed. Her grin faded as she took in Mori's stony expression and concerned eyes.

"How long have you been sitting there?" he said slowly, carefully.

She looked at him for a moment, puzzled, beautiful eyes scanning his face in search for comprehension. She clearly didn't realize that every passing second was an agony of horrible anticipation of the fact that she had sat out here waiting for him for hours under the false belief that she loved him, and this was what she wanted to do.

This world-shattering thought was broken off when understanding dawned in her eyes as she caught his meaning. She uttered a short laugh and waved a hand in a dismissive gesture.  
"No, no. I've only been here for about five minutes, ten at the most. No, really!" she insisted, seeing his disbelieving frown. "I was studying late at the library for a grammar test I have tomorrow and I was on my way home. As I passed by I saw that you were still here so I thought…well…"

She paused there and dropped her gaze from his and stared at the ground, blushing and twisting her fingers restlessly.

"I thought that maybe I could walk down to the gate with you when you were finished…"

She glanced quickly back up at him, her eyes bright and anxious, biting her lower lip fretfully.

"I mean…that is…if you don't mind Mori-senpai."

He stared at her in muted disbelief for a moment. Not believing that she was really here in front of him, not believing that she had really chosen to sit out here in the cold just to wait for him, not believing that she could possibly even think that he would turn down a single second in her company.

Not believing that he could possibly love her any more than he did right at this moment, seeing her standing in the snow, cheeks and nose and slightly parted lips reddened by the cold and beautiful eyes stained with fearful apprehension.

Still, he had to concede that he may well be wrong about this fact, seeing as he had thought the exact same thing yesterday when he watched her eat the food he brought her. He had thought that he couldn't possibly survive loving her more, but with every smile, every delighted exclamation and with every time her face lit up with joy at the delicious food he had felt his love for her and a sweet ache in his heart, grow.

Realizing that he still hadn't answered her, he smiled warmly at her and nodded. Her anxiety faded and she smiled radiantly up at him, her simple unparalled beauty immediately reimbursing him for any ache, sweet or not, she caused.

"On one condition." he said to her, stepping back and beginning to shrug off his coat.

Seeing what he meant to do, Haruhi took a step back herself and folded her arms, meeting his gaze determinedly.

"No, Mori-senpai. I am _not _taking your jacket. No!" she said, holding out one hand as he opened his mouth to disagree. "No. My coat might not be as expensive as yours, but it's warm enough. It's too cold for you to be walking around without your jacket."

Mori studied her silently for a moment, recognizing the stubborn set of her jaw and the fierce willful look in her eyes from numerous arguments with Tamaki and the twins and decided it was a lost battle. He sighed and shrugged his coat back on as Haruhi relaxed.

Instead, he reached up to his neck and unwound the long, woolen scarf that was wrapped around his neck. He stepped forward until he was directly in front of her, her misting breath dissipating against his chest, and wound the scarf gently around her neck.

It was long enough on her to wrap several times around her thin neck and still have both ends hanging past her waist. She brought her fingers up to the soft wool and stared at it in amazement for a moment.

This time, as she opened her mouth to argue with him, he gently pulled the ends of the scarf so that it tightened against her mouth just below her nose, cutting off her protests.

He met her gaze as she looked up, and their eyes locked. Any argument that might have been voiced was left unsaid, replaced by the turbulent disagreement in her eyes fading softly to grateful acceptance in the face of the warm and unrelenting concern in his.

He let his hands fall away from the scarf as her fingers crept back up to her face, curling around the material on either side of her face and pulling it free of her mouth just enough to speak.

"Arigato, Takashi." she murmured demurely, and though he couldn't see her mouth, he could tell by her eyes that she was smiling.

He nodded and smiled at her silently before sliding his arm around her shoulders and pulling her close enough to her side so that she was sheltered from the wind before leading her down the path towards the front gates, soundless under the stars.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

It wasn't until late that night as Mori was just dropping off to sleep that a single thought came screaming through the muggy, sleepy fog of his thoughts, as sharp and clear as a bullet. He sat up rigid in his bed, staring unseeing at the opposite wall while his brief but treasured conversation with Haruhi echoed relentlessly through his head.

_She called me Takashi._

He ran one hand slowly through his hair and laughed quietly before collapsing back into his pillows and smiling broadly at his ceiling in the dark.

Takashi…

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Two dark figures lurked in the shadows of the Ouran high school grounds, only yards away from where Mori and Haruhi had been standing until moments ago. Indeed they were like shadows themselves, deep and dark and shapeless in the gloom, seeming to flow with liquid grace through the darkness, recognizable only as a slightly different shade of black in the shifting shadows of the night.

They made their swift and silent way through the trees and across the snowy lawns, carefully avoiding the bright spilling light of the lamps, always lurking just on the edge of sight, like monsters or ghouls of a child's nightmare. Unseen eyes never left the couple walking close together down the path, watching, waiting.

They joined seamlessly with the shadows of the wall in which the main gate was set and watched with a silence that suggested dark thoughts and evil plans as Mori ushered a protesting Haruhi into his car because scarf or no scarf she was not walking home alone in this weather.

They didn't move as the car drove off, or for several minutes after that. In fact, any observers would be hard put to tell if they were still there, if they had ever actually been there at all, or if they had simply vanished into the shadows, like ghosts.

Suddenly, another shadow, just as dark and mysterious as the first two, detached itself from the gloom cast by the wall and stood in the snowy moonlight. This shadow looked around and started shifting uncomfortably from foot to foot.

"You know," it said reproachfully, "the cloaks are really only for Black Magic Club members."

A thought seemed to occur to it and it straightened up and said in a much happier tone of voice, "Of course, if you would like to _join_ the club you could have cloaks of your own! I could probably get you discount as cousins as the club president. Isn't that right Bereznoff?"

The first two shadows regarded the third for a moment.

"Oh do shut up, cousin"

The two shadows floated soundlessly out into the street and into the night. Or, at least into a night-coloured Bentley that pulled away from the curb and down the street, leaving a forlorn Nekozawa staring after it.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

**I'm sorry…again…**

**Please review x x x**


	7. Chapter 7

**Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, more fluff, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry…….**

**Sakura Seraphim**

**Disclaimer: I own your soul, but not Ouran Host Club or Love Egoist**

**- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - **

_Walking fast, faces pass and I'm homebound._

_Staring blankly ahead just making my way, making a way through the crowds_

_And I need you,_

_And I miss you_

_And now I wonder…_

_If I could fall, into the sky,_

_Do you think time would pass me by?_

_Because you know I'd walk a thousand miles,_

_If I could just see you tonight._

A Thousand Miles – Vanessa Carlton

Thursday

Mori raced through the halls of the school, swift and silent as a shadow, as always. It must be said, that he did his reputation as the calm, silent, ruggedly handsome and perpetually unruffled host credit; it's not many young men who can maintain the appearance of being cool and collected while running full tilt through a busy school.

Despite his speed and his dodging in and out of bodies, you might be persuaded by his lithe, graceful movements and inbuilt air of confidence to think that he was just in a hurry. Slightly late for kendo practice maybe, or running to meet someone. Until you noticed his eyes.

Their usual unfathomable gray depths were focused into a look of anxiety and apprehension. They flickered over faces and dismissed them instantly, they scanned emptying classrooms and snapped to read signs on doors, they probed shadowed corners and swept open courtyards looking for something. Looking for someone.

_Come on, where is she… The twins said the east building, where is it…_

He'd been helping Mitsukuni fix his tie, to the gushing, squealing chorus of a dozen fangirls, when the twins had sauntered into the music room, grinning, aloof, and unusually for a Thursday, Haruhi-less. He knew for a fact that Haruhi had chemistry with the twins last class on a Thursday afternoon, since she usually dragged herself into the music room with Hikaru hanging round her shoulders and Kaoru clinging to her waist, one always tightening his grip while she was preoccupied pushing the other away. The general effect was one of a concussed, red-headed octopus-human hybrid.

Their smiles dimmed quickly as Kyouya sailed over to them, charming smile fixed on a handsome face, but eyes glinting like steel.

"Hikaru, Kaoru, you're late. These lovely ladies have been waiting for you."

Kyouya flashed a smile at the girls fluttering behind the twins like baby chicks and they blushed under his warm gaze. The twins however clearly found the smile less than welcoming; they shuffled their feet and studied the ceiling.

"It's not our fault… really!", Hikaru exclaimed when Kyouya raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

"Hikaru! Kaoru! For shame! A host should not be standing idly talking whilst in the presence of such radiant beauty!"

Mori saw Hikaru roll his eyes as Kaoru muttered, "Good afternoon, Milord…"

Tamaki swept over in lieu of swirling rose petals and unexplained romantic music, pushing his way through the twins and seizing the hand of the nearest girl, who blushed furiously and stared at the Host Club king with wide, disbelieving eyes.

Tamaki gazed into her eyes and whispered softly, "My most sincere apologies princess, if you and your equally breath-taking friends would grace us by taking a seat, Hikaru and Kaoru will be with you shortly."

Clearly unwilling to leave this gathering of four gorgeous and charming men, but equally unwilling to deny a request from Tamaki, the girls walked hesitantly to a nearby couch and sat down, giggling and casting backward glances.

Tamaki turned from them, gaze swinging back to the twins. Kyouya sighed wearily and turned away as Tamaki drew a deep breath, posing with one hand on his chest and the other languorously stretched toward the ceiling. Kyouya recognized the beginnings of a lengthy speech on the duties and courtesies of a first-class host when he saw them.

Suddenly Tamaki froze, eyes flickering suspiciously from one twin to another as he tried to figure out what was missing. His jaw dropped, face aghast with horror as he pointed an accusing finger at the twins.

"My precious daughter! Where is she? What have you two done with her?!"

Leaning back slightly under the onslaught of Tamaki's questions, Kaoru held his hands up in a gesture of supplication.

"That's what we were trying to tell Kyouya before you interrupted, Milord."

"Yeah, Haruhi's at the nurses office."

Mori's ears pricked up and he felt his blood turn cold as he snapped his head around to stare at the twins. Not that any of the girls he was entertaining noticed, they were all absorbed in helping Mitsukuni feed Usa-chan strawberries.

Tamaki howled with misery and began shaking both twins backward and forward by the fronts of their shirts.

"What did you two do to your lovely sister!? Mom! Mom! Hikaru and Kaoru have been abusing their dear sister and now she is grievously wounded!"

"Hardly grievously wounded, Milord…" Kaoru gasped as he pulled his collar out of Tamaki's grip.

"Yeah," Hikaru agreed, straightening his tie. "Haruhi just dropped a beaker at the end of chem class and cut her hand a little on the broken glass. We wanted to go with her but she said… What did she say Kaoru?"

"That we were the most infuriately annoying people she ever had the misfortune to know and that if we didn't leave her be she'd brain us with her book bag."

"Yeah, that. You'd think she was mad at us or something."

"Well, you were trying to steal her bus pass."

"I just wanted to look at it."

Tamaki interrupted by grabbing Hikaru's shoulders and leaning into his face.

"Which nurses office!? Which one!?"

"The….urgh…east one, Milord but…..argh…"

"I must visit my poor injured daughter immediately! I must….urrrk!!!"

Kyouya had seized Tamaki by the back of his collar and was now dragging him kicking and yelling back to his customers.

"You're not going anywhere Tamaki. It's bad enough that we had to cancel club on Monday without you slacking off today as well. We have a reputation to think of you know."

"But Mom!"

"Don't call me Mom."

Unthinkingly, Mori placed his hands on the arms of the armchair he was sitting in, meaning to push himself upright and run from the room without looking back.

Only years of habitual devotion allowed him to keep himself in check and stopped him from running. Running to her, but away from Mitsukuni. He felt a deep stab of guilt as he realized that he really had been about to turn his back on his cousin and walk away, edged with a hollow sadness as he realized that he still wanted to.

As he realized that the thing, the person he had thought to be the most important to him, the one he would protect and care for more than all others, might not be his cousin anymore.

A glance across at Mitsukuni, sitting on the opposite couch with giggling girls on either side, and usa-chan clasped loosely on his lap, showed that his cousin knew it just as well as he did, had maybe even known it for longer. His small, childlike face bore a sweet smile tinged with a kind of weary sadness far more adult than his appearance gave him credit for. His eyes however, held no blame or anger, only a wish for Mori to be happy that he could read as well as if Hunny had spoken it to him aloud.

Mitsukuni gave him a small nod, and clutched usa-chan a little tighter to his chest.

"Takashi? Could you please bring us out some clean plates from the store cupboard?" he asked sweetly. The store cupboard was conveniently close to the door leading out into the hall.

Mori rose from his seat gladly. "Ah."

Hunny smiled brightly at him. "Arigato Takashi! I think they're in a box right at the back though, so it might take a while to find them."

As Mori neared the supply cupboard door, there was a clatter of crockery from behind and Mitsukuni cried out in despair. Mori snapped his head around and started back to the table more out of habit than anything else.

There was a spreading puddle of tea on the table surface, which was dripping steadily onto the carpet. Mitsukuni had 'accidentally' spilt his cup of tea over usa-chan and was now crying apparently inconsolably inside a cluster of comforting girls. Kyouya tutted and moved over to the table, probably toting up he cost of the broken cups in his head as he did so. The twins had sauntered over, trailing customers, to have a look, and Tamaki was attempting to comfort Mitsukuni with his teddy bear.

With the rest of the room's attention effectively distracted, Mori nodded his silent thanks to his cousin and slipped unseen out of the door.

His darting, searching eyes finally found what they were looking for in the form of a small, discreet plaque reading 'East Wing Nurse's Office'.

He skidded to a halt, framed in the doorway, eyes darting to every corner of the room and breath heaving in his chest, his imagination already throwing up hateful images of Haruhi in pain, Haruhi bleeding, Haruhi crying…

"Mori-senpai?"

Mori's head snapped to the left to see Haruhi sitting on a treatment bed, her injured hand swathed in a bandage and resting in the gloved hands of a nurse, whose expression of surprise differed only from Haruhi's in that it was tinged with stern disapproval.

A small part of Mori's mind pointed out that it was not normal, not to mention impolite, for a young gentleman to intrude so recklessly on a medical consultation, but it was completely ignored as Mori's eyes unthinkingly swept Haruhi from head to foot looking for signs of injury.

His eyes took in the crimson splashes that spotted the front of her shirt and the blood-stained cloth that she had used to staunch the bleeding sitting next to her but noted with great relief that her face and eyes showed no sign of tears or pain. Instead she was staring at him in obvious surprise and amazement, large eyes shining and lips slightly parted.

"Mori-senpai…"

The nurse rose from her seat with a disapproving clearing of her throat, scooping up Haruhi's medical chart.

"Try and spare that hand Fujioka, and don't remove the dressing. Come and see me tomorrow to have it changed. Now if you'll excuse me, I have two other patients to see to."

With a final frowning look at Mori, she walking briskly to the other side of the room, her soft shoes making faint squeaking sounds on the linoleum, and disappeared behind a curtain that obscured the other treatment beds.

Haruhi made an inarticulate affirmative noise in response to the nurse's words, her disbelieving eyes never leaving Mori's. Suddenly she gasped and a surprised comprehension flooding her eyes.

"Oh, Mori-senpai! Is it Hunny-senpai? Is he hurt?"

She looked around hurriedly, as if expecting to see Mitsukuni injured and in tears, clutching his usa-chan on one of the other treatment beds.

Mori stepped towards her and stood in front of her, shaking his head slightly.

"No."

Her eyes clouded with confusion and her smooth forehead creased in a frown as she searched his face for an answer.

"Then…why…"

Mori knelt down before her and lifted her injured hand in both of his, his own hands so much larger and stronger than hers, but as infinitely gentle and careful as if she was made of fine glass. He turned it over in his hands, running fingers softly but surely over the contours of the bandages.

He looked up at her, dark eyes stained with a tortured concern for her. He knew it made no logical sense but now, as in every instance where she was hurt or unhappy, he couldn't shake the nagging feeling that it was somehow, in some way, his fault. For not being there, for not protecting her, for failing her.

He knew it was stupid, he knew it made no sense, he knew that the fact she had cut her hand could in no way be thought of as his fault, but he still felt his insides twist in knots at the sight of her blood on her shirt and the glaring, accusing white material of her bandage.

"Does it hurt?" he asked softly, quietly, all the time scanning her delicate features and her disquietingly beautiful eyes for any sign of pain or distress.

A deep blush invaded Haruhi's face as a belated realization dawned on her. He saw it in her eyes as she realized that he was here not for Mitsukuni, not for anyone else, but for her. Only her.

He was rewarded as her face shifted seamlessly into a smile sweeter and more beautiful than any that his princess customers could ever summon.

"A little," she conceded. "But I'm fine really Mori-senpai."

He scrutinized her face for a moment with disbelieving eyes before lapsing into a relieved smile as he rose to his feet.

"Come on," she said as she slid off the bed. "We should get back to club before Tamaki brings the whole lot of them down here."

Mori felt a small smile tug at his lips as he envisioned a Tamaki laden with 'Get Well Soon' balloons, soft toys, chocolates and other gifts yelling at the twins who would no doubt be trying to trip him up and mock him as a disinterested Kyouya and a laughing Mitsukuni followed.

"Ah."

He reached down and scooped Haruhi's bag off the floor instants before her good hand closed on the handle, tucking it easily under his arm.

For a second it looked as if she might argue, then she stood back, smiling happily as she let Mori steer her gently out into the hallway with his arm around her shoulders.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The nurse walked away from Mori and Haruhi across the floor of the large and expensively equipped medical room, pausing briefly to file Haruhi's medical forms in a large filing cabinet. She quickly looked around the room to make sure her other patients weren't watching her before she opened the drawer marked 'female students'.

A wry smile twisted across her lips, she supposed she didn't need to worry about the Morinozuko boy seeing. It was obvious just by the way he looked at her that he knew Fujioka's secret. Perhaps she really was just a friend and he was just naturally very protective, she'd see him in here with his cousin before after all.

But still… Her smile turned warmer as she glanced back over her shoulder to see him gently cradling the girl's hand, his face full of painful concern. No, it was definitely more than that…

Shaking her head with a small laugh she walked briskly to the other side of the room, stopping only to scoop up two other medical charts from a desk. She rounded the curtains obscuring the other treatment beds from view without lifting her eyes from the charts.

"Now, Miss Barako and Miss Nadeshiko, I see that neither of you have any past medical history of fainting or dizziness so I'll just check your temperatures and…what on earth are you doing? I told you both to rest!"

The two girls turned briefly from where they were crouching on the bed and peering intently through a gap in the curtains long enough to give her a withering look.

"Rest? Don't be foolish, rest is for the weak." ,the dark-haired girl said scornfully, while her sister resumed her viewing through the curtain.

"But! But, you're supposed to be ill! Get back into bed!" The girls ignored her. Setting her lips firmly and clutching the charts tightly, she rallied slightly. "Besides, this is blatant invasion of patient privacy!"

"Oh do shut up, there's a good nurse."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

**Once again… I am so very sorry for being so late with my updates…**

**Thank you so so so so so much for reading and I hope you will leave me a review, not that I deserve it. But thank you anyway for reading this far.**

**Sakura Seraphim**


End file.
